Bangladesh, Japan to work together in building Smart Bangladesh: Palak

State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak today said Bangladesh and Japan have agreed to work together in different areas of ICT to accelerate Bangladesh's journey towards building a knowledge-based Smart Bangladesh by 2041.

A Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) was signed to this regard on Wednesday between the governments of Bangladesh and Japan in the presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio at the Large Meeting Room of the Japanese Prime Minister Office.

State Minister of ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak and Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh IWAMA Kiminori put initials on the MoC on behalf of their respective sides.

The two countries will cooperate with each other to prevent and respond to the fast-growing cyber incidents and exchange of information on prevalent cyber security policies and best practices, and arrange dialogue to discuss current issues on this issue, the MoC said adding they would cooperate to build capacity of human resources and exchange experts.

Talking to this correspondent over the phone, Zunaid Ahmed Palak said the MoC signed today with the technologically advanced country – Japan – is a milestone development in our journey towards building a sustainable, knowledge-based and innovative Smart Bangladesh by 2041. 

"We have reached an understanding to work together in various areas of ICT such as human resources development, innovation and research, the digital economy, digital literacy, cyber security, the use of 4IR technologies," he said.

Palak said Japanese cooperation is very important in all the above-mentioned areas, especially for implementing Smart Bangladesh within the stipulated time.

Japan is Bangladesh's top development partner and helping the nation advance in fields including infrastructure, manufacturing technology and human resources, he said pointing out that the government in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has already made a `Smart Bangladesh: ICT 2041 Master Plan.'

The state minister said with the signing of the MoC, Bangladesh would now seek cooperation and suggestions from Japan to undertake and implement projects in line with the Smart Bangladesh: ICT 2041 Master Plan and about the use of 4IR technologies like AI, IoT, robotics, 3D printing that would shape several sectors of Bangladesh in the future health, education, energy, communication, commerce, economy, climate, infrastructure, natural resources, governance, financial transactions, security and entrepreneurship.

As per the MoC, Bangladesh and Japan would also work together in the international arena to promote implementation of the UNGGE reports of 2013, 2015 and 2021 by reaffirming the applicability of international law in cyberspace as well as by appropriately conducting Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) and extending capacity building.