Kaliakoir hi-tech park
Tuesday, 31 July 2007
THE hi-tech park at Kaliakoir was one of the much trumpeted projects of the immediate past BNP-led alliance government. The technology minister of that government and a lot of plan documents did very often refer to it something like a dream project. The ministry of science, information and communications technology (ICT) initiated the project in 2003 but when the alliance government moved out of power in October 2006, there was virtually no progress in its implementation except for acquisition of 252 acres of land at the project site. Thus, the high-tech park project is viewed as another shining (?) example of the administration's foot-dragging on projects of national importance.
A report published in this daily Monday last blamed the lack of necessary expertise on the part of the agency responsible for execution of the project and bureaucratic tangle for extremely slow implementation of this flagship project. The report quoting an unnamed source said in the absence of a hi-tech ICT park, the country has failed to attract investments from ICT giants such as Microsoft, IBM and Intel. But most people would certainly be flabbergasted to learn about the real cause -- indecision over model selection -- of the delay in the implementation of the project. The government is yet to make up its mind on the ownership model for the project. The ICT ministry, reportedly, could not decide in four years' time which one of the three models -- maximum government ownership, private-public partnership and wholly private owned -- it would accept! Does one need to go any other place in the world to see the highest example of callousness, inefficiency and incompetence in the administrative circle?
It is very likely that some government officials, meanwhile, have completed their visits to some countries, including neighbouring India, to gather first-hand knowledge about the remarkable progress the latter have made in ICT technology and the facilities they have offered to the global ICT investors. There are of course ICT parks in those countries. If such models were success stories, why would not the ICT ministry be able to select one from those? Actually, the delay in the implementation of the hi-tech park is deliberate, notwithstanding the fact that an ICT park, contrary to what many tend to believe, alone is unlikely to draw big investors to this country. Other factors do also play an important part in attracting ICT investors. The availability of adequately qualified manpower having skill in software engineering, process knowledge, engineering productivity etc., is considered vital in this respect. It is not that foreign ICT investors would be flocking to the technology park as soon as the government opens it. The first push does need to come from domestic investors. In the case of successes gained by the major IT exporting countries, their dynamic immigrant communities in the developed world, adequately supported by their governments to secure contracts from abroad, have made things click for their respective countries. The non-resident Indians -- many of whom are qualified IT experts -- have been behind the success of the Indian ICT sector. The government should first try to gather details of non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) who are qualified IT experts and encourage them to return home and make investments in the ICT sector. These NRBs could prove as real catalysts for growth of the sector. Besides, the local ICT sector needs sufficient international exposure to help boost export of ICT products and attract investments.
A report published in this daily Monday last blamed the lack of necessary expertise on the part of the agency responsible for execution of the project and bureaucratic tangle for extremely slow implementation of this flagship project. The report quoting an unnamed source said in the absence of a hi-tech ICT park, the country has failed to attract investments from ICT giants such as Microsoft, IBM and Intel. But most people would certainly be flabbergasted to learn about the real cause -- indecision over model selection -- of the delay in the implementation of the project. The government is yet to make up its mind on the ownership model for the project. The ICT ministry, reportedly, could not decide in four years' time which one of the three models -- maximum government ownership, private-public partnership and wholly private owned -- it would accept! Does one need to go any other place in the world to see the highest example of callousness, inefficiency and incompetence in the administrative circle?
It is very likely that some government officials, meanwhile, have completed their visits to some countries, including neighbouring India, to gather first-hand knowledge about the remarkable progress the latter have made in ICT technology and the facilities they have offered to the global ICT investors. There are of course ICT parks in those countries. If such models were success stories, why would not the ICT ministry be able to select one from those? Actually, the delay in the implementation of the hi-tech park is deliberate, notwithstanding the fact that an ICT park, contrary to what many tend to believe, alone is unlikely to draw big investors to this country. Other factors do also play an important part in attracting ICT investors. The availability of adequately qualified manpower having skill in software engineering, process knowledge, engineering productivity etc., is considered vital in this respect. It is not that foreign ICT investors would be flocking to the technology park as soon as the government opens it. The first push does need to come from domestic investors. In the case of successes gained by the major IT exporting countries, their dynamic immigrant communities in the developed world, adequately supported by their governments to secure contracts from abroad, have made things click for their respective countries. The non-resident Indians -- many of whom are qualified IT experts -- have been behind the success of the Indian ICT sector. The government should first try to gather details of non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) who are qualified IT experts and encourage them to return home and make investments in the ICT sector. These NRBs could prove as real catalysts for growth of the sector. Besides, the local ICT sector needs sufficient international exposure to help boost export of ICT products and attract investments.