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The American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) has called for faster policy and regulatory reforms to accelerate Bangladesh’s digital transformation, attract technology investment and strengthen cybersecurity, digital infrastructure and innovation-led growth.
The call came at a policy dialogue titled “Accelerating Bangladesh’s Digital Future: Policy Priorities for Innovation, Investment & ICT-Led Growth”, organised by AmCham at The Westin Dhaka on Sunday.
Rehan Asif Asad, Adviser to Prime Minister on Post, Telecommunications, ICT, Science and Technology, attended the programme as chief guest.
AmCham President Syed Mohammad Kamal, also Vice President of Mastercard, welcomed the government’s ratification of the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), saying the final legislation reflected most of the chamber’s recommendations following its sustained engagement in the policymaking process.
He also welcomed measures in the Finance Act 2026, including tax exemptions for freelancers and content creators and customs relief on computers, digital devices and semiconductor-related materials.
However, he called for greater clarity on the new digital permanent establishment provision linked to the 100,000-subscriber threshold and urged the government to reconsider the increase in turnover tax on internet service providers from 1% to 1.5% of gross receipts.
Kamal also called for easier inbound and outbound international payments for technology companies and startups.
He stressed that foreign investors should be more closely involved in policymaking and relevant national business forums, arguing that their global expertise and international experience could contribute to a more competitive, transparent and investment-friendly business environment.
Five priorities for ICT sector
Rehan Asif Asad outlined five government priorities for the ICT and telecommunications sectors, which have been identified as a thrust sector.
The first is ensuring consistent and forward-looking policies through a five-year tax framework. He noted that Bangladesh’s telecommunications sector faces an effective tax burden of around 51-56%, compared with a global average of 22-27%. He also highlighted the removal of the SIM tax.
The second priority is improving mobile and broadband connectivity. Although Bangladesh ranks seventh globally in terms of subscribers, the country remains far behind many others in service quality, he said.
The third is building digital public infrastructure around the concept of “One Citizen, One ID, One Digital Wallet”, based on Estonia’s X-Road model. The system is planned to be offered free of charge, with citizens’ IDs linked to bank accounts and the National Board of Revenue.
The fourth priority is developing an AI-ready workforce. The government plans to equip the country’s estimated 23,000-30,000 annual engineering and science graduates with skills in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and data science, while introducing these subjects into school curricula.
The fifth is developing electronics manufacturing through incentives similar to those provided to the garment sector. Citing Vietnam’s experience, he said the country had increased consumer electronics exports from around $1 billion to $217 billion within a decade.
He also cited UN and ITU findings that every 10% increase in broadband penetration can raise national GDP by about 1%.
Industry seeks stronger digital ecosystem
The dialogue, moderated by Rubaba Dowla, Chair of the AmCham ICT Subcommittee and Country Managing Director for Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan at Oracle, focused on four broad areas: building a competitive digital economy, developing trusted digital infrastructure, accelerating AI and innovation, and strengthening government-industry cooperation.
ICT leaders from Citibank, Cisco, HSBC, Mastercard, MetLife, Pathao, PwC, Standard Chartered Bank, ShopUp, Visa and other AmCham member companies raised a range of policy and regulatory issues.
They called for open-loop ticketing for metro rail and toll systems, wider access for international payment networks to Bangla QR and the proposed One Citizen, One Wallet platform, and a review of the 15% VAT waiver under the NBR Startup Sandbox.
Participants also urged the government to align the cloud policy for banks and non-bank financial institutions with the PDPA, enabling greater use of public cloud platforms.
Other recommendations included early formation of the National Data Governance Authority, legal recognition of digital signatures and enforceable electronic agreements, stronger national cybersecurity and greater industry-academia collaboration to address shortages of AI and data engineering talent.
Responding to the concerns, the chief guest said RFID-based automated toll collection was currently being tested.
He said Bangladesh Bank had agreed to open Bangla QR for inward international payments as a first step, while the proposed One Citizen, One ID platform would be accessible to both domestic and international payment networks.
He also said the Startup Sandbox provisions would be fine-tuned in consultation with the wider startup community.
Asserting that cybersecurity would be his immediate priority, Asad said work on a national AI policy would begin in the fourth quarter through a joint initiative involving the private sector, government, academia and researchers.
He also stressed the urgent need to expand Bangladesh’s submarine cable capacity. The country currently has around six terabytes of capacity against peak national demand of about 12 terabytes, while data traffic is doubling roughly every two years.
New submarine cables take two to three years to build, he said, making timely investment essential for safeguarding Bangladesh’s digital sovereignty and supporting future economic growth.
The session concluded with a vote of thanks by Ala Uddin Ahmad, Vice President of AmCham and Chief Executive Officer of MetLife Bangladesh.
The event brought together AmCham’s Executive Committee, ICT-sector member companies and officials from the US Embassy. Cisco supported the dialogue.
