Bangladesh has all the potential to become world’s next outsourcing destination. With around 650,000 IT service exporters or freelancers, Bangladesh is now the second largest supplier of online labour globally with 16% of world’s market share. Its ICT industry has witnessed an exponential growth in the last decade. Export revenue from this sector leapfrogged from $26 million (in 2008) to $1.4 billion (in 2021). A 50,000-strong 300 companies sector swelled to a million people in 1700+ companies. The number has been almost doubled in the last five years. Development of market ecosystem, policy support and the capability of the ICT companies have made Bangladesh an attractive destination for ICT outsourcing.
Government has been generously supporting this thriving sector with 100% tax exemption for the IT and IT-enabled service (ITES) companies until 2024 and possibly up to 2030 with the provision of 100% profit repatriation and 10% cash incentive for IT/ITES export. Government is training people countrywide to develop IT professionals with varying skills through gradual establishment of 35,000 Sheikh Russel Digital Labs. ICT infrastructure is rapidly growing with the development of 39 hi-tech/ IT parks for investors. Many local and foreign companies are doing business in the already-built 10 IT parks and IT incubation centres. Furthermore, numerous startups, call centre companies, e-commerce platforms and emerging digital device manufacturing and assembling companies are turning Bangladesh into a hub for ICT ecosystem.
