Dhaka — Facebook has articulated interest in investing in the digital infrastructure sector in Bangladesh, a high-level virtual meeting on investment between Facebook authorities and BTRC was held on Monday in the presence of Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar.
Posts and Telecommunications Secretary Md. Afzal Hossain and BTRC Chairman Shyam Sunder Sikder addressed the meeting.
The Facebook party was represented at the meeting by Sabnaj Rashid Dia, Head of Public Policy on Bangladesh from Facebook's Singapore Regional Office, Tom C, Head of Connectivity, Varghese, and Connectivity Affairs Officer Tahani Iqbal.
During the meeting, Director General of BTRC Brigadier General Md. Nasim Parvez presented a picture of the progress of the telecom sector in Bangladesh.
The Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar highlighted the overall progress of Bangladesh's telecom sector, saying the digital connectivity sector is a thrust sector for investment.
Our digital infrastructure has been able to make groundbreaking progress in the last 12 years under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and under the direction of Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed Joy, Information and Communication Adviser to the Prime Minister.
He said that the people of the country have been able to keep the life of the country afloat due to the remarkable progress of digital connection.
Highlighting the success of the meeting held with the Facebook authorities on the sidelines of the Mobile Congress in Barcelona in 2018, the Minister said that the meeting was very fruitful in improving bilateral relations.
In its continuation, the relationship with Facebook began to thaw. As the strong network expands, the number of Facebook users will increase, and Facebook will also benefit a lot.
He stressed the need to work through the formation of a working group to expedite the implementation of Facebook's investment in Bangladesh and the implementation of this plan through bilateral discussions.
Facebook authorities are interested in taking advantage of investment opportunities in Bangladesh.
They highlighted the activities of Express WiFi, Terragraph, Open Transport Network and Zero Rate program in several countries including Malaysia and Indonesia. At present, there are 48 million Facebook users in the country. Bangladesh is tenth in the world in terms of users.
