Collaboration in the ICT sector would unlock many opportunities for Bangladesh and Japan, as the south Asian country is producing a large pool of ICT manpower at a time when the Island nation is suffering from shortage of skilled manpower, experts said today.

They spoke at a summit on "Bangladesh-Japan economic relations for the next 50 years: for the industry upgradation of Bangladesh".

The Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro), Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida) and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) are jointly organising the daylong summit at Pan Pacific Sonargaon in Dhaka.

A survey of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) finds that Japan currently has a shortage of 8.50 lakh ICT manpower.

So, Bangladeshi ICT firms have high potential in the Japanese market, BASIS President Russell T Ahmed said.

Ahmed proposed building an IT Institute in Bangladesh jointly by Japan and BASIS.

Bangladesh exported $125 million worth of information technology to Japan in 2021-22 fiscal year, accounting for about 8 per cent of Bangladesh's total annual IT exports, he added.