Bangladesh has signed a cooperation document with Plug and Play, the global innovation and startup platform, following a meeting at the company's Silicon Valley headquarters on 28 September. The Bangladesh delegation was led by Prof Dr Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, adviser to the Prime Minister, and included State Ministers Shama Obaed Islam and Boby Hajjaj along with government technology and telecommunications advisers.
At the meeting, Plug and Play presented a strategic proposal setting out a possible pathway to attract more than $500 million in foreign direct investment to Bangladesh. The figure is a prospective opportunity rather than committed money, and the proposal identifies areas such as ICT, artificial intelligence, electronics, engineering, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.
A central part of the plan is the creation of AI Centres of Excellence in Bangladesh. The partnership also aims to link Bangladeshi startups and young tech talent with Plug and Play's international network of corporations and investors.
Both sides pointed to Bangladesh's growing technology workforce, its universities and its industrial base as strengths to build on.
Photo: Patrick Nouhailler / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Sources: bssnews.net
