Nat’l semiconductor symposium kicks off

The two-day National Semiconductor Symposium & BEAR Summit 2026 began in Dhaka yesterday, bringing together government officials, global semiconductor experts, academics and industry leaders to discuss Bangladesh’s ambitions of developing a semiconductor industry.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman inaugurated the summit as the chief guest at Novotheatre in the capital. Alongside the summit, he inaugurated the BEAR Innovation Expo 2026, which features semiconductor and deep-tech innovations developed by students and startups.

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The summit, organised by the Bangladesh Semiconductor Industry Association (BSIA), BEAR and Silicon River Bangladesh, is being held under the theme “Building Bangladesh’s Semiconductor Future through Global Partnership.”

The opening session began with a welcome address by BSIA President MA Jabbar.

Special remarks were delivered by Fakir Mahbub Anam Swapan, minister for ICT, and science and technology; M Anwar Hossain, science and technology secretary; Rehan Asif Asad, the prime minister’s adviser on posts, telecommunications and information technology, and science and technology; and Prof Muhammad Mustafa Hussain of Purdue University, who outlined the long-term vision for the BEAR initiative and Bangladesh’s semiconductor ecosystem.

Following the inauguration, the prime minister toured the BEAR Innovation Expo, visiting exhibition stalls and interacting with participating students, startups and technology companies showcasing semiconductor and deep-tech innovations.

The afternoon programme featured a keynote plenary by Ahmed Bahai, chief technology officer of Texas Instruments, followed by three panel discussions on semiconductor talent development, ecosystem building and global industry collaboration.

The discussions brought together representatives from government agencies, universities, semiconductor companies and international organisations, including GlobalFoundries, NXP Semiconductors, Ulkasemi, Prime Silicon, Neural Semiconductor, BUET, Islamic University of Technology, Arizona State University and the University of Saskatchewan.

The summit will continue on Sunday with four additional panel discussions focused on Bangladesh’s deep-tech future, the CREST Fellows Research Symposium and a closing ceremony.

Organisers said eight strategic national frameworks and roadmaps aimed at supporting the country’s semiconductor ecosystem are expected to be unveiled during the closing session.