The American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) hosted a policy dialogue on Sunday at 11am titled “Accelerating Bangladesh’s Digital Future: Policy Priorities for Innovation, Investment & ICT-Led Growth” at The Westin Dhaka.
According to the press release, the event, supported by Cisco, brought together the AmCham Executive Committee, AmCham members from information and communication technology (ICT) sectors, and officials from the United States Embassy.
Addressing the gathering as the chief guest, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Post, Telecommunication, ICT, Science and Technology Rehan Asif Asad outlined five immediate government priorities for the ICT and telecommunications sector. He identified the sector as a designated thrust area essential for national growth.
The government’s first priority is to establish a consistent, forward-looking policy under a five-year tax framework, aimed at reducing the sector’s current 51 to 56 per cent effective tax burden, which sits well above the global average of 22 to 27 per cent.
As part of this policy, Asad noted the removal of the subscriber identity module (SIM) tax. The second priority is improving mobile and broadband connectivity, with the adviser pointing out that while Bangladesh ranks seventh globally in subscribers, it lags significantly behind in service quality.
The third priority is the rollout of a free Digital Public Infrastructure under “One Citizen, One ID, One Digital Wallet,” built on the Estonian X-Road platform and fully integrated with bank accounts and the National Board of Revenue.
The fourth priority focuses on developing AI-ready talent by equipping the nation’s 23,000 to 30,000 annual engineering and science graduates with skills in AI, cybersecurity, and data, whilst also introducing these subjects to the school curriculum.
Finally, the fifth priority is developing electronics manufacturing using garment-sector-style incentives, drawing comparisons to Vietnam’s massive growth from USD 1 billion to USD 217 billion in consumer electronics exports over a single decade.
Highlighting the economic benefits of these priorities, Asad cited United Nations–International Telecommunication Union (UN–ITU) data showing that every 10 per cent improvement in broadband penetration adds one per cent to national gross domestic product (GDP).
In his opening remarks, AmCham President and Mastercard Vice President Syed Mohammad Kamal thanked the government for ratifying the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), noting AmCham’s persistent engagement from the outset and that the final Act incorporates most of the chamber’s recommendations.
He welcomed key measures of the Finance Act 2026, which include tax exemptions for freelancers and content creators and customs relief on computers, digital devices, and semiconductor-related materials.
However, Kamal urged for greater clarity on the new digital permanent establishment provision linked to the 100,000-subscriber threshold. He also requested a reconsideration of the increase in internet service providers’ (ISPs) turnover tax from 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent of gross receipts, and asked for the easing of inbound and outbound international payments for technology companies and start-ups.
He emphasised that involving foreign investors in the policy-making process and relevant national business forums would enrich policy formulation with global expertise, helping to foster a more competitive, transparent, and investment-friendly business environment in the country.
The dialogue, moderated by Rubaba Dowla, Chair of the AmCham ICT Subcommittee and Country Managing Director for Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan at Oracle, was structured around four agendas: enabling a competitive digital economy; building trusted digital infrastructure; accelerating AI, innovation, and talent; and government–industry partnership.
During the discussions, AmCham ICT sector leaders from Citibank N A, Cisco, HSBC, Mastercard, MetLife, Pathao, PwC, Standard Chartered Bank, ShopUp, and Visa raised a series of targeted issues.
These included introducing open-loop ticketing for metro and toll systems, opening Bangla QR and the “One Citizen, One Wallet” initiative to international payment networks, and rectifying the NBR Startup Sandbox’s 15 per cent value-added tax (VAT) waiver, which they warned risks creating anti-competitive outcomes.
The business leaders also called for aligning cloud policy for banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) with the PDPA to permit the use of public cloud platforms, the early formation of the National Data Governance Authority, the enablement of digital signatures and enforceable electronic agreements, the strengthening of national cybersecurity, and bridging the AI and data engineering talent gap through joint industry–academia collaboration.
Responding to the industry’s feedback, Asad confirmed that radio-frequency-identification-based (RFID) automated toll collection is currently under trial. He announced that Bangladesh Bank has agreed to open Bangla QR for inward international payments as a first step, and that the “One Citizen, One ID” platform will be open to both domestic and international networks. He assured the business community that the Startup Sandbox provisions would be fine-tuned in consultation with the wider start-up sector.
The adviser declared national cybersecurity as his immediate priority and announced that the formulation of a national AI policy would begin in the fourth quarter of this year, driven by a joint team comprising the private sector, government, academia, and researchers.
He also stressed the urgent need to expand submarine cable capacity, revealing that Bangladesh’s current capacity is only six terabytes against a peak national demand of 12 terabytes.
Pointing out that traffic is doubling every two years and that new cables take two to three years to build, he highlighted these infrastructure developments as fundamental to the country’s digital sovereignty.
The policy dialogue concluded with a vote of thanks delivered by Ala Uddin Ahmad, Vice President of AmCham and Chief Executive Officer of MetLife Bangladesh, who reiterated AmCham’s ongoing commitment to supporting Bangladesh’s digital transformation.
