Virtual desk to connect Bangladesh, S Korea IT firms

The government today launched a virtual desk titled "Bangladesh IT Connect Portal - South Korea", which will help in establishing connections and business relations between the local IT industries with their East Asian counterparts.

Containing profiles of 80 local IT companies, the portal will be providing information required for the investment technology sector of the two countries.

It also aims at expanding business process outsourcing for local tech talents and freelancers and pave the way for the development of the country's "digital" and "smart economy".

Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT, launched the portal through a virtual event.

In the past 51 years of Bangladesh's independence, cooperation in various fields, including economy, has taken the relationship between Bangladesh and South Korea to a new height, he said.

The volume of trade between the two countries rose 38.71 per cent year-on-year to reach $3 billion for the first time in 2022.

Last year, Bangladesh exported goods worth $678 million to South Korea, which is 22.9 per cent more than that in the previous year.

The virtual desk was developed by Bangladesh Computer Council's Enhancing Digital Government and Economy project and the South Korean embassy in Bangladesh in order to create a business-to-business IT connectivity hub.

The portal will also facilitate arrangement of interviews between businesses of both countries.

Md Shamsul Arefin, secretary to the ICT Division, also spoke.

The government earlier opened similar portals dedicated for countries such as Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.