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31 July 05, VOL-1

M O N T H LY

N E W S L E T T E R

O F

B A S I S

SOFTWARE INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH TODAY WHICH WAY TO GO?

Message
I am glad to learn that Bangladesh Association of Software & Information Services (BASIS) has taken an initiative to publish a monthly newsletter. I hope that it would be an effective way to highlight the ICT industry in Bangladesh. I wish all success to this endeavor. In todays world the importance of development of IT and ITES industry in a country has become synonymous to the countrys growth. Has Bangladesh been able to cope up both conceptually and physically to this situation? I shall say yes, barring the necessity of refocusing some of our priorities in the development plan and goals for achievement in the sector. The importance of IT and ITES has been given top priority in the country by the policy makers by declaring it a thrust sector. The honorable Prime Minister of the country is the Chairperson of the Task Force. Lot of other incentives are also declared by the Government for the development of the industry. And ICT policy which in most of its content is very pragmatic is already in place. So we must agree that conceptually we are in tune with the demand of the day. Practically though, we have a few points to recapitulate. Why we need IT in Bangladesh? The question on the surface may sound very naive. But to my opinion, this is one point where we should put more of our thoughts to come to a better understanding of the issue. Lets start plain. Lot of people including quite a few policy makers have started asking questions about the position of IT in our country today. Quite often than not the answer inclines towards negative. Again in almost one hundred percent of the cases in question the negativity is derived from the figures in the export performance in the sector.
page 3

Dr. Abdul Moyeen Khan MP

Minister for Science and Information & Communication Technology, Government of Bangladesh

News Highlights
Proposed 10% corporate income tax on software business withdrawn

Bangladesh Software and ITES Directory 2005 published

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Lets start a soul searching here by going back to the question already asked. Why we need IT in Bangladesh? Very unfortunately, the focus now is to earn the precious green bag for the country. Its a Trillion dollar global IT outsourcing market waiting for us to get into. Our neighbors have made quite a distinct footprint there. Why cant we get a small share in this large pie? But there is another side of the coin. The whole world is going very fast with the process of IT enabling of their own countries. What we have done? While talking about the development of IT in our country, this question is forgotten most often than not. How many of us really think that we need to refocus our IT thought process in this area? Let me again pose the question, whey we need IT in Bangladesh? The answer should be, to develop our country. Then how should we place our IT industry vis-vis our countrys development? It can be a tool to earn much needed foreign currency by grabbing a share from the IT outsourcing market and then use this foreign currency to buy all kind of development tools including IT services from around the globe to develop our country. Can we look through the dialectical fallacy in this thought process? We are talking about exporting a service to buyback the
Continued on page 2

BASIS SoftExpo 2005 to be held from Nov 30 Dec 05, 2005

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Nine organizations awarded for Best IT use

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BASIS members participated at international IT fairs & events

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6th AGM of BASIS held

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Bisis News Letter

Continued from page 1

From Editors Desk

We are very happy to publish the first issue of BASIS Monthly Newsletter. Bangladesh Association of Software & Information Services (BASIS), the national association of software & ITES industry, has taken this initiative to address the long felt demand for a publication presenting regular updates of the news, events as well as discussion on the contemporary issues of the software and IT Enabled service (ITES) industry in the country. The newsletter, through different features, articles and case studies is expected to increase the market awareness of local software & ITES among the potential organizational buyers. Industry capability will also be showcased in different issues of the newsletter so as to build the confidence among both local and international buyers on the competency of the Bangladesh software industry. Furthermore, through establishing a platform for interaction between the industry and relevant stakeholder, the newsletter can act as an important policy advocacy tool on behalf of the software and ITES industry. On this special occasion of the publication of the first issue, I would like to give special thanks to all who have supported the publication including all BASIS members and BASIS Secretariat staffs. I would also like to thank KATALYST for providing special support in the publication. No doubt, there are lots of shortcomings in the first issue. But we believe with the suggestion and continuous feedback from the readers, the quality of the Newsletter, both in terms of contents and formats, will gradually improve in the future issues. A K M Fahim Mashroor, Director, BASIS Editor, BASIS Newsletter

Software Industry in Bangladesh

same service in a higher form. We should logically talk about exporting any commodity and service from the country when we are surplus in its production. The answer may be, not necessarily. It can be done simultaneously. But is there any necessity of cultivating the home ground to a certain level before looking for outside market? My answer is yes. Because no one will look at us for any service until we have made a visible foot mark in the area we want to serve. The question again be, havent we reached that level? This is where we need lot of home work to be done. Let us look into the case of exporting software services. What does the buyer looks into in terms of capacity and capability to consider buying in this field? the very first requirement is CMM rating. What is our countrys position there? We all know. Let me again come back to my original question, why we need IT in Bangladesh? My answer is to become a partner in the global IT development now in place in the world. Serving the own country, import the service or export the service is actually an integrated process in the whole world. Lets look into the USA scenarios. They are importing IT services by outsourcing lot of their IT work, and then using this imported service for their internal development and also producing much more value added products to sell all over the world. Can we think of Microsoft as an example here? What is the Indian scenario? They have a seventy billion US dollar internal IT resource including all tangible and intangible assets. As against this they are targeting an export of nine billion US dollars now. What does it signify? Export has been achieved at a certain ratio to internal growth. I think this is the most logical way to look into the matter. There is no denying in the fact that in every country who wants to keep pace with todays world development, they have tremendous volume of work to be performed in the IT sector inside their won country. This internal work is not an isolated phenomenon. Ones own country is actually a part of the global market and it is necessary to understand where one needs to position itself in a particular situation. The situation in Bangladesh is, we need god speed to cope up inside our country with the rapidly growing IT environment in the world. For this we need to be capable to render these services to our country by ourselves. Bangladesh will need to spend billions of dollars for procuring IT services and other assets to keep going with its cherished growth plan. Where shall we get these services from? From our own capability developed inside our country or we shall buy it from outside. We know the answer. While doing this, as a by-product, we shall be better positioned to get into the global market of IT services. That will then be our logical long term achievement. What precisely is the point I want to make here is we should refocus our priority in our goal in IT achievement. Lets position ourselves to take up as much of IT services as the country needs for its development and simultaneously position ourselves to get our deserved place in the global market. This should be a cyclic process and we should be ready to go around it.

Invitation for letter to the editor

Please send your comments/suggestions on the NewsLetter to the editor at newsletter@basisbd.org. Selected letters will be published in future issues. Please limit your letter to maximum of 75 words.

Editorial Board
Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Sarwar Alam, Chairman A K M Fahim Mashroor, Editor Mustafa Jabbar T I M Nurul Kabir Habibullah N Karim Forkan Bin Quasem Rafiqul Islam Rowly A. Towhid Fokhruz Zaman

- Sarwar Alam, President BASIS

2 Basis News & Views

National Budget 2005-2006

BASIS initiatives on Software Industry issues
Bangladesh Association of Software & Information Services (BASIS) has always been at the forefront in influencing the government in implementing policies that serves the interest of the Software and IT Enabled service industry of the country. The national budget is one of the key policy documents that reflect the governments intentions and initiatives for development of different industries. The national budget for 2005-2006 has been particularly important because the exemption period for corporate income tax for software business (the exemption facility was introduced in 2002 by an SRO) was scheduled to expire on June 30, 2005. BASIS felt that the growth of the software industry requires huge amount of investment in next few years and to attract investment the tax exemption facility should continue for some years. These two proposals along with some other recommendations for national budget 2005-2006 were submitted to NBR in a meeting held on 17th April 2005 between BASIS representatives and NBR officials led by NBR member, Income Tax policy. concerns over the budget proposal. The press conference was also attended by senior industry people including all the past presidents of BASIS as well as current and past presidents of Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS). Industry leaders expressed their strong stance against the proposed imposition of income tax @10% on the software business. They pointed out the proposal was very much against the spirit of Government policy of using ICT as a tool for national development and poverty alleviation. BASIS president Mr. Sarwar Alam criticized the Government attitude of considering software only as an export industry rather than an industry which can help other sectors of national economy to be more productive and efficient and thus serve the nation as an engine of national growth. Terming the budget proposal very unfortunate and undesirable, the industry leaders requested the Honorable Finance Minister to reconsider the proposal of introduction of 10% income tax on software business and to declare the sector tax exempted till FY 2010. In the following day, most of the national dailies covered the press conference with high importance. On June 18, 2005 BASIS published an open letter on behalf of software industry addressing the Honorable Prime Minister and Honorable Finance Minister in three major national dailies. BASIS also collected signatures from more than 120 BASIS members and sent an appeal letter to the Honorable Prime Minister and Chairperson of National ICT Task Force Begum Khaleda Zia requesting for the withdrawal of the proposed tax. Additionally letters were sent to all the Members of Parliaments, Finance Minister, Minister of Science & Information Technology and Minster of Commerce. Taking yet another step for pursuing the Government to withdraw the proposed 10% income tax, with the support of apex trade association of the country the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FBCCI), BASIS in association with two other ICT associations viz. Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS) and Internet Service Provider Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB), organized a roundtable discussion at CIRDAP auditorium on Budgetary Policies for Software Industry in proposed National Budget 2005-2006 on June 23, 2005. Mr. Abdul Awal Mintoo, President, FBCCI presided over the discussion. Mr. Sarwar Alam, President, BASIS moderated the roundtable discussion. Mr. Aftab Ul Islam- President, AMCHAM, Mr. S. M. Iqbal - President, BCS, Mr. Akhtaruzzaman Manju - President ISPAB, Syed Marghub Murshed, Former Chairman, BTRC, Prof. Zafar Iqbal, Dr. Atiur Rahman, noted economist & Chairman, Unnayan Shamannay, Dr. Aminul Hoque, President, Bangladesh Computer Society were present as discussants at the meeting. All the discussants strongly criticized government move of tax introduction on the highly prospective industry that can change the future of the country. The roundtable discussion was also featured with high importance in the following day in all the important national dailies. The series of prompt and targeted initiatives from BASIS has been able to generate support from all walks of people and different quarters of society. The major national chambers and trade associations in the country including FBCCI, MCCI and DCCI also supported the industrys demand of tax withdrawal. Eventually the concerted campaign and determined efforts resulted in convincing the Government to reconsider the tax imposition. On June 29, 2005 the Honorable Finance Minister Mr. Saifur Rahman proposed some amendments to the proposed budget including the withdrawal of 10% income tax on software business. A BASIS report

BASIS Budget Recommendations

1. Extension of Corporate Income Tax Exemption Facility for software business till 2010 (The exemption facility, effective till June 2005 was introduced in 2002 through an SRO) 2. Provide the similar tax exemption benefits to IT-Enabled Services (ITES) business as enjoyed by the software business 3. Allow Accelerated Depreciation for procurement of Computer Hardware & Software by any business enterprise in the country 4. Immediate implementation of National ICT policy guideline of Allocating 2% of ADP (Annual Development Program) budget in ICT procurement/Investment by Government

However, in the budget proposal presented by Honorable Finance Minister Mr. Saifur Rahman on June 9, 2005, 10% income tax on software business was proposed. BASIS strongly opposed this initiative and took a series of programs to convince the concerned authority on the detrimental impact of this measure on the software industry. In an immediate reaction, BASIS arranged a press conference on June 11, 2005. BASIS board appraised the press about their grave

Roundtable discussion on Budget 2005-06: from the left to right; Prof. Zafar Iqbal, Mr. Aftab Ul Islam, Mr. S. M. Iqbal, Mr. Sarwar Alam, Mr. Abdul Awal Mintoo, Mr. Akhtaruzzaman Manju, Mr. Syed Marghub Murshed

Basis News & Views

Case
The Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) is one of the most vibrant business sectors. The role of technology, especially IT and IT Enabled Service (ITES) for the business sustainability and high growth for SMEs is very important. Keeping this in mind, in this newsletter a case study on successful use of IT at Multiphama, a small size medicine store is presented.

CASE STUDY
in manual errors, better employee satisfaction through ease of operation, increased profitability due to least pilferage and up to date inventory management etc. Additionally the decision support reports generated by the software help the MPL management in planning and monitoring their business better. One of the employees who was more familiar with manual processes prior to joining MPL, said that the automation process has made his job easier as he does not have to go through some of the time consuming and cumbersome manual data processing. He also mentioned an interesting benefit he gets through this automation. He said, for some tasks for which he had to wait for management decisions are not needed in an automated environment as the management can monitor and give decision quickly and instantaneously. This saves time for him and also gives him a sense of satisfaction with the feeling that he is also a part of the management. The solution has provided MPL more efficiency in their business. However, as with any solution - manual or automated, there will always be requirements for further development and fine tuning. The same is true for the case of MPL. They said that at present they have around 2-3% operational errors caused by administrative difficulties. The lack of automation at BIRDEM and few input mistakes from operators are the major reasons for the errors. The MPL management is constantly updating and fine tuning their solution and perusing BIRDEM for their cooperation in this regard to reduce the errors. Overall, the management and the employees of MPL are upbeat on use of computer technology and strongly recommend technology as an effective tool in increasing the business efficiency for smaller businesses. MPL managements decision to expand the support to other processes of the business provides testimonial to the benefit of IT in a SME setup.

Use of IT in SME: A case study on Multipharma Limited

The Company
Multipharma Limited (MPL), a medicine store owned and operated by private entrepreneurs has been in business since 2004. The store is located at BIRDEM, 122, Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, Dhaka. At present, MPL has 7 full time employees. Of these employees 3 are involved in sales and customer services while 3 are carrying out the back office management. The General Manager is the top official directly involved with the day to day operation.

Challenges
The nature of services and operation for MPL has some unique aspects that are different from any ordinary medicine store. MPL provides patient-wise services to BIRDEM patients and also serves the general customers. The attachment with BIRDEM patients posed some challenges for MPL management such as proper identification of the patients, medicine delivery to the specific patients and final bill adjustments before the patients leave the hospital. Additionally, the wide range of product base, managing the rush of patients (that can sometimes go as high as 1200 per hour) and managing inventory were few other challenges the MPL management had to overcome when they started their business. One of the directors, Mr. Syed Istiaq Ahmed, being technology savvy, thought of introducing an automated solution to handle the operations of MPL. With this intention, Mr. Ahmed under his own supervision engaged some software engineers in developing a solution fully customized to serve MPL purposes. With successful development and implementation of the solution, MPL started its operation with IT support from the very first day it went into operation.

The Solution
The main objective of the project was to provide accuracy and speed to the sales and inventory processes and integrate the two processes together. In the sales side the customer (or patient) management, sales transaction and billing were the major focuses. On the other hand, inventory management and decision support reporting were the focuses at the back office management. Built on MS SQL Server back-end and Visual Basic front-end the solution was made user friendly to increase the acceptance level. 3 outdoor (sales terminal) PCs, 3 indoor (back office management) PCs connected to a dedicated server construct the hardware network for MPL automation project.

Business Benefit
The highest level of satisfaction at the sales counter and the efficient management of the BIRDEM patients medicine requirements probably would have been impossible if MPL had not decided to use automation support. The other benefits the solution brought at the operational levels were business process supports on product detailing, procurement and management reporting. The management at MPL said that the use of the software has helped them in areas such as accuracy in data processing, reduction The case of Multipharma Limited is a good example of how small enterprises can avail the benefits of the IT to enhance their business efficiencies. This case also provides a strong argument against the common misconception that availing IT support is expensive and that only large organizations can afford this. The successful implementation of IT support at MPL shows that management intention and comprehension of the benefit are the most crucial steps on availing the benefits of technology.

4 Basis News & Views

News & Events

SoftExpo 2004 concluded successfully
SOFTEXPO2004, the biggest software and ITES exposition in Bangladesh, has successfully ended. The exposition was held on 25-29 November 2004 at Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Hall, Dhaka. More than 120 organizations which included around 100 local software and ITES companies participated in the fair. 25 foreign ICT companies participated at the exposition. This is the first time that such a large number of foreign software companies have participated at any IT event in the country. More than 50,000 visitors attended the five-day-long mega exposition. Twenty seminars (including 10 seminars organized by BASIS in association with SEDF) were held which were presented by renowned international & local speakers. The other highlighting events of the exposition were Best IT Use Award Night, IT Entrepreneurship development program participated by eleven (11) young IT entrepreneurs and IT job fair. The exhibition was sponsored by AKTEL. Intel, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, SEDF were the co-sponsors of the event. BASIS has recently announced that SoftExpo 2005 will be held from November 30, 2005 to December 05, 2005. BASIS donated Tk. 2 Lacs to the Prime Ministers relief fund for flood victims. BASIS founder president Mr. A Towhid handing over the cheque to the honorable Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia on 5th September 2004.

6th AGM of BASIS held

The 6th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Bangladesh Association of Software & Information Services (BASIS) took place under the chair of its President Mr. Sarwar Alam on 30th December 2004 at Hotel Sundarban, Dhaka. The Board of Directors & a large number of BASIS members were present on the occasion. Mr. Syed Faruque Ahmed, Acting Secretary General of BASIS presented the Annual Report and Mr. Rafiqul Islam Rowly, Treasurer presented the annual audited accounts. Organizing sector-wise promotional activities to boost the local software & ITES market, Enforcement of Intellectual Property Right, Human resource development for the ICT industry and many other important issues were discussed in the meeting. The members were informed that the number of BASIS members increased to 157 at the end of 2004 from 111 at the end of 2003. Members thanked the BASIS board for successful arrangement of BASIS SOFTEXPO2004, Initiatives for development of local & export market, Capacity building programs for the members, Business linkage programs, etc.

Nine companies awarded for best IT use

On the occasion of the SoftExpo 2004, a program was arranged jointly by BASIS and SEDF to hand over the Best IT Use award to 9 organizations. The recipients of the awards are organizations who have achieved better effectiveness and efficiency through successful use of software solutions. The award was given to different organizations belonging to three different categories. The recipient of the awards and the categories are as follows: SME category Large enterprise category Government category Board of Investment (BOI) Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB)

Ambee Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. Dandy Dying Ltd. PHP Group HR textile Ltd. South East Bank Ltd. Khwaja Yunus Ali Medical College & Hospital

Danish delegation participated at SoftExpo2004

One of the major highlights of SoftExpo2004 was the participation of a large Danish delegation. Sixteen Danish companies participated at the fair with a mission to find out outsourcing partners for software development jobs at European market. A special pavilion was arranged at the exposition venue where all the Danish companies met with Bangladeshi software companies. A total of 23 top officials from 16 renowned Danish companies came to Dhaka to participate at the fair. Their participation was arranged by Danish Embassy at Dhaka. For software companies to explore export market, it requires expensive travel to the client country. The participation of large foreign delegates at the SoftExpo2004 was a great opportunity for the local software companies, staying back in Dhaka, to demonstrate their capabilities to the prospective clients for outsourcing in the European market. A total of 35 local companies participated in 115 business linkage meetings with the Danish companies. It was learnt that a lot of meetings were very fruitful and in the coming months a good number of contracts are expected to be signed between some participating Danish and Bangladeshi companies.

Basis News & Views

News & Events

BASIS members participated at international IT events
BASIS participated at GITEX 2004 in Dubai from 37 October 2004 with 4 of its member companies in association with Export Promotion Bureau (EPB). The participants were Anupam Infotek Limited, Daffodil Computers Limited, LeadSoft Bangladesh Limited and Millennium Information Solution Ltd. 4 BASIS members took part in JETRO Outsourcing Fair for IT Software (J-OFIS) held from 25-27 January 2005 in Tokyo, Japan. The participants of J-OFIS were ATI Limited, BJIT Limited, Dohatec New Media and Leads Corporation Limited. BASIS with support from Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) participated at CeBIT 2005 held in Hannover, Germany from 1016 March 2005. At the fair, Bdcom Online, Fornix Soft, InSoft and Stitel participated as exhibitors while 7 other companies participated as visitors. 5 BASIS companies participated in IT Business Linkage Tour in Washington DC from February 27, 2005 to March 04, 2005. Top officials from eGeneration Ltd., BASE Ltd., Orient Technologies Ltd., CSL Software Resources Ltd. and MGH Infotech Ltd. participated in this event. The tour was organized by JOBS and USAID. Under this USAID program, the Bangladeshi companies participated in three IT Business networking events and few one to one meetings with top level management of different US based companies.

10 seminars arranged by BASIS during SoftExpo 2004

Supported by SEDF, BASIS organized 10 seminars during SoftExpo 2004. All the seminars were presented by distinguished local and international speakers. The seminar topics were:

IT Entrepreneurship Development Program

BASIS and SouthAsia Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF) has recently organized IT Entrepreneurship Development Program to promote young entrepreneurs with innovative business ideas. The program was initiated with the objective of creating an entrepreneurial environment in the country. Young, fresh graduates and students who have innovative ideas and entrepreneurial drive were the target group. Out of 32 projects received 11 were finally selected. One business consultant worked with the selected entrepreneurs for 3 months for developing their business plans. The projects were also displayed during SoftExpo 2004. It is expected that with the help of the training and prepared business plans the young entrepreneurs will be able to commercially launch their projects very soon.

Strategic roadmap for Bangladesh ICT sector Offshore phenomenon market trends and challenges Export opportunities for animation services Public-private partnership for eGovernance initiatives Role of e-Governance in national productivity IPR enforcement challenges International standard requirements for 2D animation Legal and financial regulation issues for eCommerce in Bangladesh Financing issues for software companies Use of ICT as competitiveness tool for export oriented RMG sector

The seminar presentations as well as detailed proceedings are available at BASIS website
(www.basis.org.bd/seminar).

BASIS organizes training on Software Project Management

BASIS with the support of ICT Business Promotion Council (IBPC), Ministry of Commerce arranged a five-day long training program on Software Project Management from May 29, 2005 to June 2. In total 27 senior project manager and team leaders from reputed software companies attended the training. Mr. V. Ravindran, a reputed project management consultant from PRO.wiz, Singapore conducted the training. The main objective of this training program was to improve competencies of top technical management of the local software companies in the areas of process centric software development methods & practices. The training was designed to help the participants prepare for the Project Management Professional Certification.

Copyright (Amendment) Bill passed

The Parliament recently passed the Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2004 as was placed after scrutiny by the Standing Committee on the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. State Minister Begum Selima Rahman tabled the Bill for the passage. BASIS has actively participated and contributed in the process of correction of existing Copyright Law 2000 for the Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2004. BASIS emphasized on the enforcement of this law. It will safeguard the intellectual property right of local software companies and encourage foreign software companies as well.

6 Basis News & Views

BASIS Published Bangladesh Software & ITES Directory 2005

BASIS has published Bangladesh Software & ITES Directory- 2005. BASIS organized a grand ceremony on the occasion of its launching on 16th March, 2005 at 11.00 am at the auditorium of IDB Bhaban, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Agargaon, Dhaka. Dr. Abdul Moyeen Khan, M. P., Honble Minister, Ministry of Science and Information & Communication Technology, Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Mr. Sarwar Alam, President, BASIS chaired the ceremony with attendance of a large number of representatives from the listed companies. Mr. A K M Fahim Mashroor, Director BASIS & Editorial Board member of the directory presented different contents of the directory. The profiles of 152 software and ITES companies (along with their products/services range, representative clients & projects, management profile etc.) have been compiled in Bangladesh Software & ITES Directory- 2005. Indexes of the directory are designed in such way that anybody can easily search the Software and ITES Companies according to the required product and services. The directory is available in CDs as well. An electronic version of the directory is also available at www.basis.org.bd/directory.

BASIS participates at OutsourceWorld London 2005

BASIS and JCI organized seminar on IT for business efficiency

BASIS and JCI Bangladesh jointly organized a seminar titled IT for business efficiency on July 14, 2005 at Hotel Rigs Inn, Gulshan, Dhaka. The seminar was organized to create awareness on use of IT in business organizations. Mr. Aftab Ul Islam, President AmCham was present as the chief guest. Dr. Rokunuzzaman, Professor, CSE Department, IUB has presented the keynote paper of the seminar. On the same occasion, BASIS and JCI Bangladesh signed a MoU to develop mutually beneficial program for cooperation. Mr. Sarwar Alam, President, BASIS and Ms. Safina Rahman, President, JCI Bangladesh signed the MOU on behalf of their respective organizations.

A two member BASIS delegation participated at the OutsourceWorld London 2005 held in Royal Horticultural Halls & Conference Centre, Central London from June 29, 2005 to June 30, 2005. OutsourceWorld London 2005 is Europes premier outsourcing event, offering delegates a definitive learning platform about the revenue and resource benefits of implementing outsourcing solutions. 63 exhibiting companies from UK, USA, India, Philippines, Hong Kong, UAE, Romania, Macedonia and Malta participated in this years event. The seminars and roundtable discussions were other highlights of the event. BASIS delegation at the event attended the seminars and met with potential outsourcing partners. They presented the opportunities of Bangladesh as an outsourcing destination and promoted the SoftExpo 2005.

BASIS participates at the Malaysia Conference on e-Governance

A large number of Bangladeshi delegation including Mr. Siddiqur Rahman Chowdhury, Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Mr. Amitab Chakrabrty, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Mr. SASM Taifur, Project Director SICT, Mr. T I M Nurul Kabir, Vice President BASIS, Mr. Jahidul Hasan Mitul, Director BASIS and officials and representatives from KATALYST recently attended the International Conference on Best Practices of E-Government & E-City: Vision, Innovations & Opportunities held in Casuarina Ipoh Hotel, Ipoh City, Malaysia, from 13 - 16 June 2005. The participation of Bangladesh delegation was supported by KATALYST. With the support of the Asia IT & C Programme of European Commission (EC), the Ipoh City Council (MBI), Malaysia in association with some European partners hosted this International conference. At the conference, Bangladesh delegation presented the recent e-Governance initiatives in Bangladesh.

Basis News & Views

BASIS SoftExpo 2005

Nov 30, 2005 - Dec 05, 2005

New BASIS members in 2005 (Jan-Jun)

With the inclusion of 20 new companies in the first half of this year (2005) the total number of BASIS members currently stands at 177. Name & contact details of all BASIS members are available at BASIS website (www.basisbd.org.bd). The new member companies are: CDS IT Limited Aviation and Aeronautical Engineering of Cyber Plaza Euphoria Solutions Limited Documenta TM Limited (www.documentabd.com) STM Vision Infotech (www.stminfotech.com) Geographical Solutions Research Center Ltd. System Resources Limited Agni Systems Limited (www.agni.com) Metronet Bangladesh Limited (www.metrobd.net) Softalk Online (Pvt.) Limited (www.softalk-online.com) Ganky Limited Bangladesh Info.com Limited (www.bangladeshinfo.com) Uniqa Software & Systems (www.uniqa.com) Lighthouse Group (www.lighthousebd.com) Daud IT Ltd. (www.dauditl.com) DEVNET Limited IT Solution Bangladesh (Pvt) Ltd. (www.itsbl.com) Therap (BD) Limited (www.therapservices.net) IITM Software (www.iitmsoftware.com) Reve Systems (www.revesoft.com)

BASIS SoftExpo 2005 will be held from November 30, 2005 to December 05, 2005. Following the grand success of SoftExpo 2004, this years event aims to be even bigger and better in showcasing software products, IT Enabled Services (ITES) and ICT system solutions in Bangladesh. The exhibitors registration process has already started. For details please contact BASIS office. (www.softexpo.com.bd) Training on Software Testing & Software Quality Management
Aug 15, 2005 - Aug19, 2005

BASIS will organize training programs on Software Testing & Software Quality Management from August 15, 2005 to August 19, 2005 at the BASIS Conference Hall. Mr. Pradeep from QAI India will conduct both the trainings. During this training program Mr. Pradeep will also meet with representatives of BASIS member companies and provide consultancy support to them on software quality issues and CMM implementation. Training on software project management (PMP training)
Sep 24, 2005 - Sep 28, 2005

The Preparation for Project Management Certification training program for the second batch will be held from September 24, 2005 to September 28, 2005 at the BASIS Conference Hall. Mr. V Ravindran, PMP the Managing Consultant of ProWiz Singapore will conduct the training. It may be mentioned that Mr. Ravindran was the trainer for the first batch also. BASIS to participate at Expo Bangladesh 2005
Sept 27, 2005- Sept 29, 2005

BASIS members will participate at the Expo Bangladesh, a one country exhibition to be held in UK from September 27, 2005 to September 29, 2005. 5 companies will participate at this fair. BASIS to participate at GITEX 2005
Sept 25, 2005 - Sept 29, 2005

BASIS members Anupam Infotek Limited, Computer Ease Limited, Millennium Information Solution Ltd. and Reve Systems will participate in this years GITEX fair to be held in Dubai from September 25, 2005 to September 29, 2005 at Dubai World Trade Centre Complex.

IT Industry Statistics & Indicators

No. of IT tenders floated during Jan-Jun 2005
Name of the organization No. of ICT tender floated Ministry of defense 12 Ministry of finance & planning 10 Universities 7 Corporations 6 Different association 5 Banks/insurance 4 Ministry of Education 4 Ministry of environment & forestry 3 International organizations 3 Others 12 Total 66 Information courtesy: www.tenderbangla.com During the first six months of 2004, a total of 32 ICT tenders were floated. This year the number (66) represents 106% growth. IT Employment The statistics on the job vacancy announcements shows that in the first half of 2005, IT job market has been very buoyant mainly caused by the recruitment spree of major telecom players. At the same time, software development companies have recruited in good numbers as during last few months both software exports as well as Source: Bangladesh Bank According to the Export Statistics Report of Bangladesh Bank during last ten months of 2004-05 Software export was approximately 10 million USD showing 84.6% growth over same period of previous year. Half yearly IT job announcements (Job announcements in major dailies & job sites) Jan 04-Jun 04 Jun 04-Dec 04 Jan 05-Jun 05 No. of Announcements Growth over previous 6 months Information courtesy: www.bdjobs.com domestic software market started to pick up. The low supply of good quality IT professionals in the job market are also resulting in a rise of employee turnover rate and companies are competing fiercely to retain their best talents. 474 530 11.8% 725 36.8%

IT export
2000-01 Export Yearly Growth 2.24 2001-02 2.8 25% 2002-03 4.2 51% 2003-04 7.2 71%

Figures in Million USD

2004-05 (Jul - Apr) 9.97 84.63% (same period last year)

Published by

Bangladesh Association of Software & Information Services (BASIS)

BSRS Bhaban (5th Floor-West) 12 Kawran Bazar, Dhaka-1215, Tel: 8151196-7, Email: info@basisbd.org, Web: www.basis.org.bd (The electronic version of this issue is available at www.basis.org.bd/newsletter)