What future awaits the hi-tech parks?
We are concerned about the future of the hi-tech parks that the ousted Awami League government planned to establish across the country with the goal of transforming Bangladesh into a global hub for information and communication technology. Reportedly, the government invested Tk 1,473 crore on three hi-tech parks, three software parks and four incubation centres, envisioning them as ICT and business innovation hubs that would create tens of thousands of jobs, generate billions of dollars, and position Bangladesh as a leading digital nation. However, an investigation by The Daily Star has found that due to faulty planning, corruption, poor execution and the lack of a supportive ecosystem, these projects have yielded negligible returns, falling far short of expectations.
Former State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak boasted in 2016 that the IT park in Kaliakoir would employ up to a million people over 10 years. Eight years later, after spending around Tk 600 crore, the 355-acre Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City has created only 1,500 jobs. The situation is similar at the Bangabandhu Hi-Tech Park in Sylhet, a project taken up at a cost of Tk 324 crore with the goal of generating 50,000 jobs. Today, fewer than 100 people are employed there. Despite the project being expected to be completed long ago, it is still not fully operational. Similarly, the Bangabandhu Hi-Tech Park in Rajshahi and the Sheikh Hasina Software Technology Park in Jashore have failed to attract significant investment. In the former ICT state minister's constituency, several overlapping projects were also undertaken haphazardly and without proper planning.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Reportedly, despite extremely low returns, Palak continued to promote the ventures as successes, paving the way for the approval of over 80 similar parks across the country. Currently, another dozen projects are underway, with an estimated cost of around Tk 7,000 crore in public money.
The question is, what future awaits these costly hi-tech projects? Since all these initiatives were riddled with corruption, the interim government must conduct thorough investigations into them and hold accountable all involved in the design, planning, budgeting, approval and implementation of these projects. The government should also assess whether the completed projects have any potential for new job creation. With the country grappling with high unemployment, the ICT sector could provide valuable job opportunities for our youth if managed with efficiency and transparency.
However, the government should also make prudent decisions regarding the incomplete projects. Such ventures should be frozen to prevent further losses until they are objectively re-evaluated and properly redesigned to ensure value for money, as Dr Iftekharuzzaman, head of the interim government's Anti-Corruption Reform Commission, has suggested.
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