Bangladesh is one of the Goldman Sachs N-11 countries - these are the next eleven countries that are highly likely to follow the “BRICs” in leading world growth. The economy of Bangladesh is growing steadily and the country has the potential to become an important global centre for the service industries.  Like most emerging countries, Bangladeshi companies are highly cost competitive, which, when linked to the pool of trained engineers and operators, offer a strong value proposition and an exciting development opportunity. The IT and ITES industry of Bangladesh has the potential to help all types of organisations to meet their business goals, particularly in relation with outsourcing IT applications, software development or business processes.           

The project “creating sustainable exporter competitiveness of the IT&ITES sector in Bangladesh” is part of the NTF II programme, funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The programme was launched in April 2009 and will end in March 2013. The project in Bangladesh is implemented in close collaboration with the Dhaka chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) and Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS). To achieve its objective, the project follows a three-pronged approach:   

1. Establishing business links   

In the framework of NTF II project, 40 Bangladeshi companies, with a proven export potential, were selected to benefit from the business-linkage activities in Denmark, the Netherlands and United-Kingdom. These companies have been assessed by European business-linkage experts, who are also coaching them on export marketing.   

Vendor profiles have been established in coordination with industry experts and partner trade support institutions (TSI) in Europe. They are gathered in a catalog and an online directory, which are both used to market the IT & ITES offering of Bangladesh in the target markets. Yearly matchmaking events are organized in Europe, as well as in Dhaka during the SOFTEXPO trade fair.   

2. Strengthening TSI competencies TO enter EU markets   

The Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) and Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), as project partners, are being supported to set up their own business-linkage service to the benefit of IT and ITES Bangladeshi businesses. More specifically, partner institutions are being strengthened in specific areas of their core competencies through the following activities:   

• Coaching provided by business-linkage experts and partner TSIs in Denmark, Netherlands and UK to replicate the methodology in Bangladesh   
•   Undertaking yearly demand-side studies (Target Market Overview looking at relevant segments and Marketing Plan) and transferring methodology to partner TSIs   
• Building strong links between partner TSIs and TSIs in target markets  

3.  Enhancing branding capacity   

IT & ITES industry branding activities have been so far limited, with BASIS undertaking a small-scale launch of the BangladeshNEXT brand in October 2010. BASIS also organizes the SOFTEXPO fair on an annual basis for the promotion and branding of Bangladesh, with few foreign delegations visiting the event. DCCI is also involved in country branding activities and has shown a renewed interest in promoting the IT & ITES sector by designating a Director in charge of the industry.   

NTF II Bangladesh is supporting these efforts by backing up the business-linkage with PR activities and mobilizing industry analysts (AT Kearney, McKinsey, Everest Research…), together with the active support of the project partners.    

ABOUT THE NTF II Programme   

The NTF II Programme is based on a partnership agreement signed by CBI and ITC covering the period April 2009 to March 2013. The programme includes five countries: Bangladesh, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. It focuses on enhancing exporter competitiveness in selected priority sectors in each country.