Outsource to Bangladesh

Online Marketing in Bangladesh

2011-06-17T17:30:00.000+06:00

I have been involving in management, developing and practicing online marketing for last 4 years. Over my career I experienced some good and evil experiences continuing my jobs.

I would like to discuss here about the benefits, advantages, prospects and obligations of Online Marketing in our country.

Benefits

From my point of view, the benefits of online marketing could describe as follows –

Marketing people can do more, faster and easier than before.
All marketing works together in an integrated manner to create momentum (be greater than the sum of your parts)
Delegation of content management and campaigns without losing branding/quality control.
Search Engine optimized for greater natural (free) rankings.
Centralized files for all marketing (hi-resolution, Word, pdf, movie files etc)
Global access, project delegation and management.
Faster reaction to ‘just in time’ marketing needs.
Local sales and marketing can act faster and be proactive to current needs.
Websites those are more than brochure ware (tell a story more than the project and more about community, lifestyle)

Opportunities

Internet Population – As the internet users increase every moment, business opportunity through internet is also emerging. To get the targeted clients become easier. We may have the business details of any company to enquiry for corporate marketing.

Demand for Products and Services - Regions throughout the world are realizing the enormous information resource the Web is and are interested in content, and products and services that their own regions do not provide.

Increased Sales and Reduced Costs - A web site provides an avenue through which to gain access to a large audience without spending a lot of money. For example, it cuts down on paper costs associated with direct marketing and magazine or newspaper advertising.

Obstacle Faced:

Lack of proper knowledge

The concept of the marketing process is not that popular in our country and for this the big company still can’t realize how it can value their business to the international market.

Low Internet connection speed

Internet connection problem is another major problem we have to face on a regular basis. It still on the preliminary stage needs a lot to go to stabilize. The cost is still high and service is poor. If government can decrease the bandwidth price, it will help to reach more people and thus the markets expand.

Electricity

Moreover, Load-management for low supply of electricity let us suffer a lot. As we have to work following a strict deadline, we have use our every second. Continuing works with the help of Oil generator is costly as cut out most of our profit.

If these problem can be solved shortly or manage to decreased in remarkable amount, then that day is not so far, where Bangladesh will be on top 3 list of the outsourcing country

How to Improve Search Engine Ranking

2011-02-16T19:40:00.001+06:00

Showing up on search engines is one of the most critical ways to increase website traffic and expose your content, product or service to people who might be interested in what you have to offer. Most of the major search engines utilize an algorithm to determine where a website ranks. The search engines have set up specific criteria that a website must meet to get to the top of the list. The criteria are different for every engine, but all engines share several commonalities. It all boils down to the type and amount of content provided on a given website, the level of optimization done on the site, and the popularity of the website (link popularity/PageRank). Tailoring your website for improved search engine rankings is also known widely as search engine optimization, or SEO.

Steps

Research the keywords. Decide what search queries you want to show up for. Do some research on how many people are actually searching for your site. Many times it is best to consult a "natural search engine optimization" professional during this process. There are several tools available from Google, Overture, and third party software developers that can make the keyword research process easier.
Think outside of the box. Don't just focus on your main keywords. The first thing to realize when targeting keywords is that it is not all about ranking for the most popular keyword. The most successful search engine marketing and optimization campaigns target the most relevant keywords. For example, if you are a realtor in a particular area, don’t just optimize your site for “real estate." Optimize your site for dentist, florist, movie theaters, etc. You would be amazed how many unique visitors will come through to your site when "outside of the box" thinking occurs.
Focus on the end user. If you spend too much time trying to please the Search Engine Spiders, you may forget about the end user. Think about what your target market needs to accomplish their goals, and then put it on your site so that they can find it. The phrase "content is king" was born about 6 years ago, and it still holds true today. If you want to be relevant for specific keywords, than you need superior or at least highly competitive content. Write about 225-300 words of copy for each keyword and plant it on your site each day. Grow, grow, and grow. On average, one can target between 3-5 like keyword phrases per page. Make it as natural as possible and the Search Engines will reward you with a first-page ranking.
Make sure that all the pages of the site have custom titles and descriptions. If your site is using the same tags for all the pages, you are not helping search engines figure out the subject or relevance of your individual pages. Regarding Meta Tags, there are 2 very important fields:
- Title Tag - arguably the most important SEO tag for any website. Google supports approx. 60 characters in the title, while Yahoo allows for up to 110 characters in the title. It is important to target the most critical keywords in the Title. Every page should have a unique Title.
- META Description Tag - These were once important but are no longer. Some engines do display the description defined, while others do not. Some search engines do read the description tag, and do utilize the content found within in the ranking process. Google, MSN and Yahoo give very little weight to no weight for these.
To make sure that you have not missed any tags or damaged any links in the process, use an inspection tool to look over your website. In the process of inspection, you will also automatically be provided with a sitemap (refer to step 7 for significance).
Keep the structure, navigation and URL structure of your site simple enough for search engines to follow. Remember that search engines cannot parse your navigation if it's using flash or javascript. So try to stay close to standard HTML when it comes to Navigation. URLs with dynamic parameters (?, &, SIDs) usually do not perform when it comes to search engine rankings.
Create a site map that tells people where everything is on your site. You will get about a 1% click through rate to your site map. However, it will do wonders for those who know what site maps do, and the Search Engines will like it as well.
Build up your popularity. So now you have determined the right keywords on the right pages, you've created all of the necessary content, and you've optimized all of the content to the best of your capabilities. Congratulations - you're now in the top 80th percentile (from an optimization standpoint) of the websites listed for the keywords you're trying to target. So how do you get a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd page listing? The answer is quite simple: You have to be the most popular, too. That's right, it's a popularity contest. In other words, how many other websites know you (link to you), and how popular are they? This is typically referred to as link popularity, or called PageRank by Google. The more sites that link to your site the better, and the more popular the site linking to you the more value you will receive for your link popularity. The best types of "link building" are directory registration, text link advertising, and press release distribution. Try to offer valuable information or tools so that other people are motivated to link to your site. Well-linked sites (that don't use spamming) do better in search engines.

Tips

Search engine algorithms assess the relevance of your page to any particular keyword by the content on your pages. For instance if you are selling "widgety widgets" on your site and you do not mention "widgety widgets" on your page text, search engines have very little to work with. Also make sure that you are not spamming search engines by using the same keyword over and over.
Although not as important as they used to be, reciprocal links do still matter with Google. Reciprocate with similar websites and include keywords near the links on your site.
If you want to optimize well for your city, state etc., make sure to sprinkle geographic search terms throughout. Include it in text as well as set apart. Search engines do not know where you are unless you tell them.
Bold and italics can make your keywords stand out more with the search engines.
Interior links within your site will improve SEO; Sitemaps are a great way to generate internal links and make your website better too!
Correct broken links, search engines do not like dead ends.
If you have over 30 keywords that mean business to you, then you might want to hire a Professional Search Engine Copywriting firm or outsource it to freelancers.
Anyone who can go to google and type in "keyword research" will find very many tools that mixed with common sense should suffice quite well.
Now when digging deeper to understand the traffic patterns of certain keywords use Wordtracker’s GTrends Tool. You can get an idea on the amount of competition on Google compared to the amount of searches. Now these numbers are far from accurate, BUTTT if you can kind of step back and take a broader look at things, don’t worry so much about the numbers but compare the trends since it shows the past history. See if its steady traffic, traffic that is going extinct, or traffic just starting to peak. By using this tool, you can many times find some golden opportunities.
It really comes down to just using common sense. Just sit down and think, "What would other people search to find this? What would I search for to find this?" Try phrases in your keyword research tool to get new ideas and find the higher trafficked most targeted phrases. DO NOT look at the numbers spat back out at you by these programs as accurate numbers, they rarely are. You can still use these tools to get ideas on new keywords, search patterns of users, and many other things, that mixed with the information of trends in that area, can really help you.

Warnings

If you are going to use freelancers, beware of duplicate content. Always make sure to check the content that you get by searching for the content on Google, Yahoo, and MSN.
Never have hyperlinks like "click here", hyperlinks should always be keywords, long hyperlinks with multiple keywords are even better.
Don't hide content.
Don't create duplicate websites.
Remember that if you use black-hat SEO techniques, you run the risk of getting penalized by the search engines and having your web site permanently removed from their index.

An Introduction about Outsourcing

2011-02-11T10:25:00.004+06:00

When we think of outsourcing, many of us think of call-centers out of India, however

there is much more to the concept than that. During the 20th century, most companies

felt that they could own, manage and directly control their own

assets. Most companies had factories in a central location, with

the head office nearby. Things began to change during the

economic-powered decade of the 1980s when companies began

to develop new strategies to compete globally. For many years,

only a select few of industries used any form of outsourcing,

mostly publishing companies that purchased composition,

printing and fulfillment services. It was not until 1989 that the

first real use of outsourcing by a large corporation was used,

when Eastman Kodak outsourced its IT systems business in

1989. Katharine Hudson, then the Chief Information Officer of

Kodak, said her goal was “to plug into the wall and have data

come out.”1 Many other companies began to follow suit by

outsourcing their technology services they used to access

important information. Soon enough, organizations began to focus more on cost-savings

measures by outsourcing functions needed for a company to run, but not related to the

core of the business.

Now-a-days outsourcing is the buzzing word of modern business arena. Some

definitions of outsourcing are as follows:

Outsourcing is subcontracting a process, such as product design or manufacturing, to a

third-party company2.

Outsourcing is a business practice commonly used by companies that implies hiring an

external service provider & transferring some of the company's internal operations/

jobs to this third party entity3.

Outsourcing is the subcontracting of activities (production processes or services) that

are not regarded as part of a company’s core business4.

Outsourcing is delegating specific work to a third party for a specified length of time, at

specified cost, and at a specified level of service5.

Outsourcing is the transfer of the management and/or day-today execution of an entire business function to an external service provider by the way of subcontracting.

Outsourcing is subcontracting work to contractors outside the firm6.

Outsourcing is the delegation of non-core operations from internal production to an

external entity specializing in the management of the operation.

Form the definitions above the characteristics of outsourcing is as follows-

Outsourcing means subcontracting

Subcontracting to a third party company outside the business

Implies hiring an external service provider

For a specified length of time, at specified cost, and at a specified level of

service

So, outsourcing involves the transfer of the management and/or day-to-day execution of

an entire business function to an external service provider7. The client organization and

the supplier enter into a contractual agreement that defines the transferred services.

Under the agreement the supplier acquires the means of production in the form of a

transfer of people, assets and other resources from the client. The client agrees to

procure the services from the supplier for the term of the contract.

A more detailed explanation would be that a client and contractor or supplier enters

into an agreement that defines a transferable agreement. In this agreement, the supplier

acquires the means of production in the form of people, assets or other resources. For

most of the outsource process, there are detailed steps that are followed. Of course,

these steps vary depending on the complexity of the organization and the service being

outsourced.

First, there is the decision to outsource by a company, in which the company decides

what service is going to be outsourced.

Second, the company will develop a shortlist of suppliers from whom they will request

a proposal and a price for the outsourcing project.

Third, the client or company will do a supplier competition, where the client assesses

the proposal sent in and chooses which supplier to go with. Often, this step will

involve face-to-face meetings.

Fourth, negotiations begin in which the client will complete the conversion of the

proposal sent in by the winning bid into an agreement. This will often finalize the

documentation and pricing process.

Fifth, the contract finalization begins once negotiations are complete. This process will

define how the company and client work together over the course of the contract.

Finally, the transition period begins in which the client begins to take on the services or

staff of the company or client.

ow everybody wants to plug into “OPR” that means “other people’s resources”

and strategically focus internal resources towards doing what they do best. The

realization is that as companies strive to improve quality and customer service,

they can only focus on what they do best. They are hence outsourcing what they admit

they are not good at.

According to the Outsourcing Institute Index, clearly outsourcing is no longer just

about saving money. It’s now

about doing things quicker, more

efficiently, getting to market

faster than your competitors,

having maximum flexibility with

your workforce and gaining

access to high quality employees

you otherwise could not afford.

Executives site the 3 primary

reasons for outsourcing as

“improving their company’s

focus” (55%), “reducing and

controlling operating costs” (54%) and “freeing their resources for other purposes”

(38%).

Outsourcing helps organizations to:

• Focus on your core business

• Leverage advanced technology and skilled personnel without its associated costs

• Lower information technology (IT) operating expenses and capital investment

• Shorten business application development cycles and next-generation system

implementations

• Improve IT service levels and increase performance reliability

• Better identify and control IT costs

• Use IT savings to fund new strategic programs

Organizations that outsource are seeking to realize benefits or address the following

issues.

Cost savings: Organizations outsource to make the overall cost of the service to the

business as lower as possible. This will involve reducing the scope, defining quality

levels, re-pricing, re-negotiation, cost re-structuring. Access to lower cost economies

through offshoring called "labor arbitrage" generated by the wage gap between

industrialized and developing nations11.

Cost restructuring: Operating leverage is a measure that compares fixed costs to

variable costs. Outsourcing changes the balance of this ratio by offering a move from

fixed to variable cost and also by making variable costs more predictable.

Improve quality: Outsourcing helps in achieving a step change in quality through

contracting out the service with a new service level agreement.

Knowledge: Access to intellectual property and wider experience and knowledge12.

Contract: Services will be provided to a legally binding contract with financial

penalties and legal redress. This is not the case with internal services13.

Operational expertise: Outsourcing ensures access to operational best practice that

would be too difficult or time consuming to develop in-house.

Staffing issues: Outsourcing also ensures access to a larger talent pool and a

sustainable source of skills.

Capacity management: By outsourcing an improved method of capacity management

of services and technology where the risk in providing the excess capacity is borne by

the supplier.

Catalyst for change: An organization can use an outsourcing agreement as a catalyst

for major step change that cannot be achieved alone. The outsourcer becomes a

change agent in the process.

Reduce time to market: The acceleration of the development or production of a

product through the additional capability brought by the supplier.

Commodification: The trend of standardizing business processes, IT Services and

application services enabling businesses to intelligently buy at the right price. It

allows a wide range of businesses access to services previously only available to large

corporations.

Risk management: An approach to risk management for some types of risks is to

partner with an outsourcer who is better able to provide the mitigation14.

Venture Capital: Some countries match government funds venture capital with

private venture capital for startups that start businesses in their country.

Two dominant types of outsourcing are-

1. BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) and

2. ITO (Information Technology Outsourcing)

In another way-- ITO, BPO, Software R&D and KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing)—

these four are treated as the four basic types of offshore outsourcing. But, in another

way general outsourcing and BPO is the same thing and ITO is a part of BPO. Both are

used here. So, classifying ‘outsourcing’ is not an easy task.

ITO is the most booming one among all types of

outsourcing. If we split ITO and BPO by total market

value, this can be easily seen how dominant the ITO

is. Here, ITO poses 74.42% where BPO poses only

25.58%.

Some of the definitions about Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) given by

various authors are as follows21:

According to Lacity & Willcocks (1998), Willcocks, Fitzgerald & Feeny (1995),

“Information Technology Outsourcing occurs when third party vendors are responsible

for managing the Information Technology components on

behalf of their clients. IT Outsourcing means handing over the

management of some or all of an organization’s information

technology (IT), systems (IS) and related services to a third

party.”

According to Chaudhury, Nam & Rao (1995), “Information

Technology Outsourcing is defined as the contracting of various

information systems functions such as managing of data

centers, operations, hardware support, software maintenance,

network, and even application development to outside service

providers.”

According to Carmel & Agarwal (2002), “Information

technology (IT) outsourcing describes a process whereby an

organization decides to contract-out or sell the firm’s IT assets,

people and/or activities to a third party supplier, who in

exchange provides and manages these assets and services for an

agreed fee over an agreed time period. ”

According to SOTA, “Information Technology Outsourcing

(ITO) as the decision by an organization to contract an external

provider in the delivery and/or support of IT and/or IS services and functions.”

21 Source: Presentation of Jo Ann Saitta, Ph.D. candidate (2005), Department of Information

Systems, New Jersey Institute of Technology (Advisor-Jerry Fjermestad, Ph.D., School of

Management, New Jersey Institute of Technology)

Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) means handling over the management of some organization’s information technology or information system to any third party online information technology service provider.

Practically anything can be outsourced. Some traditional and new ideas of outsourcing

are as follows22:

Traditional Ideas of

Outsourcing

New Ideas of Outsourcing

• Bookstore

• Endowment Management

• Food Services

• Housekeeping

• Legal Services

• Payroll

• Pension Administration

• Security

• Telecommunications

• Vending Services

• Benefits Administration

• Conference Administration

• Duplicating Services

• Health Services

• Human Resources

• Information Systems

• Residence Halls

• Training & Development

• Web Site Development or

Maintenance

• Data Processing

• Software Testing

• Networking Services

• IT Consulting Services

• Search Engine Services

• E-Commerce

• Application

Maintenance

• Database

Development

If we have a look at the

parcentage of outsourced

services we can easily notice

that Information Technology

Outsourcing is far ahead than

the other types of outsourcing.

From a survey it is found that

now-a-days among major jobs

of an organization ‘Information

Technology’ is outsourced

most and is followed by ‘Administration’.

ITO or Information Technology Outsourcing is the most promising & booming type of outsourcing. Some of the popular and rapidly practiced outsourced services under ITO are as follows:

• Web Development

• Software Development

• Call Center Outsourcing

• Data Processing

• Application Maintenance

• Software Testing

• Search Engine Services

• IT Consulting & Outsourcing Services

• E-Commerce Outsourcing

Source: Prospect of Information Technology Outsourcing in Bangladesh by Md. Azim Ferdous

Bangladesh emerging as IT outsourcing destination

2011-02-10T20:23:00.000+06:00

The Amsterdam-based KPMG in a survey report placed Bangladesh with Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam, along with India on the list of emerging Asian IT services suppliers. The survey report, Asia-Oceania Vision 2020: Enabling IT leadership through collaboration was released recently.

The KPMG, which prepared the report in association with the Tokyo-based Asian-Oceania Computing Industry Organization, included Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar and Nepal in the list of potential suppliers.

The report said the Asia-Oceania would become the largest supplier of IT and business process outsourcing services to the world by 2020. The Asia-Oceania is set to account for 74.5 per cent of global IT services demand by 2020. The report showed a comparison of age of people among 15 Asian countries to link prospect of IT services business.

It found that only 5.6 per cent of Bangladeshis are aged 65 and above. Such aging percentage is 5.6 in the Philippines, 6.5 in India, 13.8 in Thailand and 29.5 in Japan. The report analyzed that countries like Bangladesh which have a good pool of young people, should stay in the list of Asia IT leaders.

The report said huge IT enthusiastic young people and rapid acceptance of IT services in Bangladesh were advantages for the country to be an IT service exporting country. 'Our report looks at the current growth and future prospects for the IT industry in surveyed countries over the years and current trends influencing the industry have been examined,' the KPMG said.

The report, however, warned that climate change, poverty and inequality, infrastructure deficits were bottlenecks to Bangladesh's growth and these impediments should be tackled for this country to become one the leading IT services sources. The Denmark ambassador to Bangladesh, Einer H Jensen, observed Bangladesh's IT industry had a 'good start' on the global outsourcing market in recent times. Some Danish companies are working with around 20 Bangladeshi companies to develop and outsource software and IT-enabled services. 'It [Bangladesh] could be a preferred destination for outsourcing in the near future,' he told newsmen of a Dhaka based English language daily paper.

Citing a recent World Bank report, he said more than 8,000 Bangladeshi young software developers had found jobs in the industry in the past two years and nearly 1,000 of them were working in Denmark-Bangladesh IT joint ventures.

Industry sources said Bangladeshi IT industry had also developed business relation with clients in Japan and other parts in the world.

Safquat Haider, a director of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services, said the IT potentials of Bangladesh had increasingly been pointed out by industry monitors globally. 'The IT industry is warming up for a breakthrough, as global clients are calling local companies increasingly and a significant local market is also being readied,' said Haider, whose IT company, CIPROCO develops telecommunication, geographic information system and enterprise resource planning solutions for clients at home and abroad.

Source: http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2010/03/19/95384.html

Dhaka ranks third in global freelance outsourcing work

2011-02-10T20:06:00.000+06:00

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=94272

Dhaka has become one of the top destinations for freelance online work, outshining Indian cities such as Bangalore, as the Bangladeshi capital fast emerging as a major centre for data entry work that employs tens of thousands of people.

According to a new report by oDesk Corp, a United States-based leading marketplace for companies and online workers, Dhaka is now ranked third among global cities where online jobs are outsourced from the West.

A combination of cheap labour and good English skill has made Dhaka a “surprised winner” in freelance outsourcing jobs such as graphic design, data entry and check-up, translation and web development.

“Many businesspeople tend to think about Bangalore of India when it comes to ‘outsourcing’. Actually, Bangalore ranks fifth on oDesk’s list of top cities for online work,” the report released this week said.

The top four cities with more freelance work are: Chandigarh and Mohali of India, Dhaka of Bangladesh and Quezon City of the Philippines, it said, adding half of the freelance online workers in Dhaka do data entry work.

Among the countries, India still tops the list in outsourcing job destination, followed by the Philippines and the US, the report said

The oDesk’s report said Ukraine and Pakistan generated more online work in February, with jobs ranging from data entry to computer programming to translating, than Canada or China.

More and more people are today working online perhaps because of the economic downturn that has gripped the world since middle of 2008, the report added.

Reaz Uddin Mosharraf, secretary general of Bangladesh Association of Call Centre and Outsourcing, said Dhaka would soon supplant its Indian rivals as the biggest destination for online freelance jobs.

“We have estimated the number to be around 100,000 and most of them are students with hourly income ranging between US$ 10 to $100,” he told the FE.

Mosharraf said Bangladeshi freelancers – many of whom are based outside Dhaka – mostly specialised in graphic design, web development and data entry – with some earning up to $1000 a month.

He said the payment is determined on project-to-project basis and the students from Dhaka University and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) also do some online software works.

According to the association, only a handful of smart techies used to do online freelance jobs five years back and Dhaka was “no where near the Indian cities in global outsourcing job map”.

“But in the last three years, online freelancing jobs have underwent a revolution in the country. Number of such jobs have grown exponentially with IT clubs in major universities acting as key catalysts,” Mosharraf said.

He said more students could land lucrative freelancing job contracts if broadband providers offer high-speed internet facilities and cheap bandwidth.

“A lot of people I know feel hesitant to take up big and lucrative projects for fear that they will not be able to complete the work in time due to slow bandwidth facilities,” he said.

Information about Bangladesh

2011-02-10T19:59:00.000+06:00

GENERAL INFORMATION

Location:	Most of the country is situated on deltas of large rivers flowing from the Himalayas. The Ganges unites with the Jamuna (main channel of the Brahmaputra) and later joins the Meghna to eventually empty into the Bay of Bengal. Land boundaries: 4,264 km. Bordering countries: Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km. Coastline: 580 km. Terrain: mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast.
Climate:	Climate: Tropical; mild winter (October – March): hot, humid summer (March to June); humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October)
Natural resources:	natural gas, oil, arable land, coal
Capital:	Dhaka
Population:	138.44 million (2003)
Area:	147,540 s.q. km
Per Capita GDP in US$:	362.00 (2001-2002)
GDP growth:	4.80 % (change 2001/2002).
GDP distribution:	Agriculture: 24.60%, Industry: 26.50%, Services: 48.90% (2001-2002)
Trade:	Export: 6467, Import: 9363 billion US$ (2001-2002)

ECONOMY

The Bangladesh government has taken initiatives to build an ICT-driven nation comprising of knowledge-based society. In view of this, a country-wide ICT-infrastructure is being developed to ensure access to information by every citizen to facilitate empowerment of people and enhance democratic values and norms for sustainable economic development by using the infrastructure for human resources development, governance, e-commerce, banking, public utility services and all sorts of on-line ICT-enabled services. To achieve these, all required laws and policies are in place. Government has identified ICT as a thrust sector.

From a mainly feudal agrarian base, the economy of Bangladesh has undergone rapid structural transformation towards manufacturing and services. The contribution of the agriculture sector to GDP has dwindled from 50 percent in 1972-73 to around 20 percent in 1999-2000. The agricultural sector is, however, still the main employment provider. The staple crop is rice, with paddy fields accounting for nearly 70% of all agricultural land.

Industrial production growth has averaged more than 6% over the last 5 years. The export sector has been the engine of industrial growth, with ready-made garments leading the way, having grown at an average of 30% over the last 5 years. Primary products constitute less than 10 percent of the country`s exports; the bulk of exports are manufactured/processed products, ready-made garments and knit wears in particular.

Bangladesh, least developed country, largely an agrarian economy with around 24 million acres of cultivation land employing about 14.5 million cultivators. Manufacturing industries have grown around Dhaka and Chittagong based on agriculture input of jute, cotton, chemical and gas based industries.

GDP grew in the year 2001-02 at a rate of 4.5% and was projected to grow by 5.5% in the year 2002-03. In the year 2001-02 contribution of agriculture is 24.6%, industry 26.5% and the balance by services other sectors. It was noted that the share of industrial production in the GDP was growing indicating revival of the economy. Contribution of industrial sector increased from average 11.11% in the year 1999-2000 to 25% in 2001-02 and was poised to account for 30% in the year 2002-03. Conducive policies announced by the government for industrial development led to revival of the economy. Figure 1.1 shows the GDP growth from 1997-2003.

To overcome the slowdown in international trade, Bangladesh Government has taken several critical measures. The private sector has also put its best endeavours to face the situation. To face the severe global competition the local economy had to do cost cutting, improve productivity and efficiency. As a result of which there are signs of improvement in the overall economy. The foreign exchange reserves showed gradual improvement helped by strong growth in remittance inflows from expatriate Bangladeshi's. Inflation measured by the 12-month average increase in consumer price index stood at 2.39 percent in June 30, 2002 compared to 1.59 percent in June 30, 2001. Domestic credit grew by 12.87 percent in 2001-2002 against 17.65 percent expansion in the previous fiscal year. The increase in domestic credit during the current period was mainly on account of the private sector (13.95%). Growth in the government's revenue collection contributed to the containment of expansion in public sector borrowing.

Bangladesh’s exports during 2002-2003 were US$ 6.5 billion and imports during US$ 8.2 billion. Trade deficit declined from US$ 3.34 billion in 2000-2001 to US$ 2.64 billon in 2001-2002. Main exports items were woven garments, knitwear, jute goods, leather and leather goods, frozen food, tea and agro-based products. Hosiery and readymade garments accounted for 75% of the exports basket followed by frozen shrimps and fishes, jute and jute products, leather products, etc. IT products and services exports were growing at a rate of 30% however, the base was small of about US$ 50 million. This sector however was poised to achieve exports of US$ 2 billion by the year 2006. During FY 2001-2002 exports declined by US$ 473.8 million or 7.32 percent to US$ 5994.9 million against exports of US $ 6468.7 million during FY 2000-2001. Import payments also declined by US$ 715.4 million or 8.53 percent to US$ 7675.0 million during July, 2001-May, 2002 against imports of US$ 8390.4 million over the same period of the previous year.

Economic Trends

Economic Data

Annual report 2002 - 2003

Central bank of Bangladesh

WORKFORCE

Bangladesh has a huge pool of talented ICT professionals. It is known as source of high quality and competitive labour force in regard to cost. Bangladesh is preparing itself to compete effectively in the global ICT market. As the demand for skilled manpower in ICT is growing world-wide, the country feels the need to produce a large number of ICT professionals. In the year 2002, 2,354 students from Public Universities and 1,625 Students from Private Universities have graduated in Computer Science. Universities, both in the public and private sectors are producing ICT graduates in four-year Computer Science and/or Engineering courses. Government is in the final stage to offer Diploma and Trade courses in ICT will in both public and private institutes including Polytechnics. 17 public and more than 45 private universities offer ICT courses.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Most of the Universities in Bangladesh have research and development centres. This as created a favourable infrastructure and condition for development.

Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET) has formed a separate institution - Bureau of Research, Testing and Consultation (BTRC). Through this institution BUET is offering research and consultation expertise to other organisations of the country.

The Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) has the tradition and experience in research and development activities in Nuclear Science and Technology and other related fields over three decades.

The Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) was established in 1973. With the passage of time expansion of the laboratories was felt to meet the need of time and Institute of Fuel Research and Development (IFRD) was established in 1983, Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFRD) in 1985 and Pilot Plant and Process Development Centre (PP&PDC) in 1985. Further to state that establishment of a good number of Regional Laboratories, Centres and Institutes have been proposed to the Government, which may come into reality within a reasonable time.

INFRASTRUCTURE & QUALITY OF LIFE

Bangladesh has about 13,627 km of metalled roads and highways. The road transport is predominantly in the private sector. However, the largest road-transport organization namely, Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation, has a big fleet of roadworthy buses and lorries to connect the capital with almost all parts of the country

Biman, the National Air lines of Bangladesh, with its fleet now carries the nation's flag to 8 South Asian destinations, 6 South-East and Far-Eastern destinations, 9 destinations to Gulf and Middle-East region and 6 European and North American points. It also has flights to domestic important cities. Besides, the principal international airport, Zia International Airport in Dhaka is well connected with all international cities through the regular flights of Air India, Aeroflot, British Airways, Emirates, Gulf Air, Iraq Airways, Dragon Air, Myanmar Airways, Kuwait Airways, PIA, Royal Nepal Air Lines, Saudia, Singapore Air Lines and Thai International.

Chittagong and Mongla are the two major seaports of the country with 25 and 5 jetties respectively, handling international trade cargo to the tune of 1.5 million tons annually. These two ports are well connected with a large number of ports and cities all over the world through the operations of both national and foreign shipping lines

Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, the national flag carrier, has 18 vessels having a total tonnage of 2,67,663 DWT. It also carries crude and refined oil from the Middle East and Singapore to Bangladesh.

The installed total power generating capacity is 4,368 megawatts. Major industrial cluster areas are covered by electricity. Recently an extensive programme of rural electrification has been undertaken to bring all the major rural areas under electricity. The domestic power volt is 220-240. More information: Bangladesh Power Development Board

With a network of about 4,440 km, the Bangladesh Railway has 499 stations connecting almost all the administrative and business points of the country. It has adequate capacity of carrying cargo from and to the sea ports. The introduction of direct inter-city passenger trains has facilitated the movement of people to a great extent

Since the year 2000 tourists arriving in Bangladesh have been swelling in numbers. Also traveling further within the country and visiting places like Cox' Bazaar, Teknaf, the Sundarbans, Kuakata, Paharpur and Tetulia. Not only is it international visitors but locals are also taking their holidays and coming to Dhaka, Khulna and Chittgong. All these travelers require appropriate accommodation and the demand in hotel beds and restaurants are now being met for every taste and every budget. Many of the visitors are expatriate Bangladeshi coming to Bangladesh not only to visit their families, but for a holiday and to experience the vibrant and culturally rich country. Catering for all these people have seen an increase in the demand for new hotels and restaurants in Dhaka and other tourist locations.

আউটসোর্সিংয়ে সেরা ৩০-এ বাংলাদেশ

2011-02-10T19:50:00.000+06:00

প্রযুক্তিভিত্তিক বৈদেশিক শ্রমবাজার হিসেবে বিশ্বে সেরা ৩০টি দেশের অন্যতম বলে বিবেচিত হচ্ছে বাংলাদেশ। বিশ্বে তথ্যপ্রযুক্তিবিষয়ক গবেষণা এবং জরিপক্ষেত্রে অন্যতম শীর্ষস্থানীয় প্রতিষ্ঠান গার্টনার-এর সাম্প্রতিক রিপোর্টে বিশ্বে সেরা ৩০টি দেশের তালিকায় এই প্রথমবারের মতো স্থান পেলো বাংলাদেশ। খবর গার্টনার অনলাইন-এর।

গার্টনার সম্প্রতি ২০১০-২০১১ সালে অফশোর সার্ভিস, আউটসোর্সিংসহ তথ্যপ্রযুক্তির বিভিন্ন ক্ষেত্রে এগিয়ে যাওয়া সেরা ৩০টি দেশের তালিকা করেছে। সেখানে তালিকা থেকে বাদ পড়েছে ৭ টি উন্নত দেশের নাম। উন্নত এই দেশগুলো এর আগে তালিকায় ওপরদিকেই ছিলো। এবার বাদ পড়েছে অস্ট্রেলিয়া, কানাডা, আয়ারল্যান্ড, ইসরায়েল, নিউজিল্যান্ড, সিঙ্গাপুর এবং স্পেন। এই দেশগুলোকে সরিয়ে এবার স্থান করে নিয়েছে নতুন ৮ টি দেশ। আর এই ৮ টি দেশের মধ্যে সবচেয়ে উল্লেখযোগ্য নামটি হলো বাংলাদেশের।

প্রতিটি দেশকে রেটিং দিতে ১০ টি বিশেষ বৈশিষ্ট্য নির্ধারণ করেছিলো গার্টনার। কোনো একক প্রতিষ্ঠানের জন্য নির্দিষ্ট দেশের কাজের ক্ষেত্র এবং অবকাঠামো বিষয়টি ছিলো গার্টনারের প্রধান বিবেচ্য। সেই মানের ক্ষেত্রে বাংলাদেশ যথেষ্টই এগিয়েছে। যে ১০ টি বিষয়ের ওপর রেটিং দেয়া হয়েছিলো সেগুলো হলো ভাষা, সরকারি সাহায্য, লেবার পুল বা শ্রমিক সংঘ, অবকাঠামো, শিক্ষা ব্যবস্থা, খরচ, রাজনৈতিক এবং অর্থনৈতকি পরিবেশ, সাংস্কৃতিক সহনশীলতা, আভ্যন্তরীন এবং আন্তর্র্জাতিক পরিপক্কতা, এবং ডেটা ও বুদ্ধিকৃত্তিক সম্পদের নিরাপত্তা এবং প্রাইভেসি। এই বিষয়গুলোর ওপর ভিত্তি করে ৫টি রেটিংয়ে ভাগ করা হয় দেশগুলোকে। এই রেটিংগুলো হলো ‘পুওর’ বা বাজে, ‘ফেয়ার’ বা মানানসই, ‘গুড’ বা ভাল, ‘ভেরি গুড’ বা যথেষ্ট ভাল এবং ‘এক্সেলেন্ট’ বা চমৎকার।

গার্টনারের রেটিংয়ে বাংলাদেশের অবস্থান ‘পুওর’। গত এক দশকে দেশ তথ্যপ্রযুক্তিতে অনেক এগিয়ে গেলেও অবকাঠামো খাতের তেমন বিস্তার না হবার ফলেই বাংলাদেশের রেটিং-এ পিছিয়ে আছে বলে গার্টনারের জরিপে দেখা গেছে। গার্টনার তাদের জরিপে এমন দেশ বেছে নিয়েছে যেগুলো মুলত কম আয়ের দেশ হওয়া সত্বেও মানুষের কাছে তথ্যপ্রযুক্তির সেবা পৌঁছে দিতে পেরেছে।

গার্টনার এর রিসার্চ ভাইস প্রেসিডেন্ট ইয়ান ম্যারিয়ট জানিয়েছেন, ‘এ বছর সেরা যে ৩০টি দেশ তালিকায় স্থান পেয়েছে সে দেশগুলো সত্যিকার অর্থেই তথ্যপ্রযুক্তিতে এগিয়ে যাবার ক্ষেত্রে প্রতিশ্রæতিশীল দেশ। উন্নত দেশগুলোতে পরিবর্তনের হার খুবই ধীর, তাই আমাদের লক্ষ্য ছিলো সে সব দেশ বা স্থানকে বেছে নেয়া যারা উন্নয়নশীল এবং ধীরে ধীরে আভ্যন্তরীন এবং আন্তর্জাতিক ভাবেও উন্নতি করতে পারছে’।

গার্টনারের সেরা ৩০ টি দেশের তালিকায় এশিয়া/প্যাসিফিক অঞ্চল থেকে ৯ টি দেশ স্থান পেয়েছে। এক্ষেত্রে বিবেচ্য বিষয় ছিলো গত এক দশকে তারা কেমন উন্নতি করেছে সে বিষয়গুলো। এশিয়া অঞ্চলে তালিকায় শীর্ষে রয়েছে ভারত। আর উন্নয়নের দিক থেকে ভারতের নিকটতম প্রতিদ্ব›দ্বী চীনের অবস্থান তার পরেই।

গার্টনারের তালিকায় অঞ্চলভিত্তিক দেশগুলো হলো :

আমেরিকা : আর্জেন্টিনা, ব্রাজিল, চিলি, কলম্বিয়া, কোস্টারিকা, মেক্সিকো, পানামা এবং পেরু।

এশিয়া প্যাসিফিক : বাংলাদেশ, চীন, ভারত, ইন্দোনেশিয়া, মালয়েশিয়া, ফিলিপাইন, শ্রীলঙ্কা, থাইল্যান্ড, এবং ভিয়েতনাম।

ইউরোপ, মধ্যপ্রাচ্য এবং আফ্রিকা : বুলগেরিয়া, চেক রিপাবলিক, মিশর, হাংগেরি, মৌরিতানিয়া, মরক্কো, পোল্যান্ড, রুমানিয়া, রাশিয়া, স্লোভাকিয়া, দক্ষিণ আফ্রিকা, তুরস্ক এবং ইউক্রেইন।

গার্টনার জানিয়েছে, অফশোর সার্ভিস বা আউটসোর্সিংয়ের ক্ষেত্রে জরিপে দেখা গেছে, অনেক দেশই তথ্যপ্রযুক্তিতে এগিয়ে আসছে এবং ভাল করছে। প্রতিশ্রুতিশীল অনেক দেশই তথ্যপ্রযুক্তিতে জোর দেবার ফলে তারা অর্থনৈতিকভাবে স্বাবলম্বি হবার চেষ্টা করছে। প্রযুক্তি ক্ষেত্রে জোর দেবার ফলে দ্বিপাক্ষিক বাণিজ্য বেড়ে যাচ্ছে এবং দেশের অর্থনীতিতে বড় অবদান রাখছে।

সেরা ৩০ এর তালিকায় একেবারেই নতুন করে স্থান পেয়েছে নতুন ৫টি দেশ। আর সেখানে শীর্ষে আছে বাংলাদেশ। এই পাঁচটি দেশ হলো বাংলাদেশ, বুলগেরিয়া, কলাম্বিয়া, মারিশাস এবং পেরু। এ ছাড়াও আরো তিনটি দেশ এই তালিকায় ঢোকার অপেক্ষায়। তারা হলো পানামা, শ্রীলঙ্কা এবং তুরস্ক।

দক্ষতার মিশেল, বর্তমান নীতিনির্ধারণ এবং সম্ভাবনার বিষয়টি ছাড়াও লেবার পুলের সুযোগে প্রথম অবস্থানটি ভারতের। এছাড়াও এ তালিকায় ভিয়েতনাম, চীন, মালেশিয়া এবং ফিলিপাইন যোগ হয়েছে। এই দেশগুলো রেটিং পয়েন্ট ‘গুড’ বা ভালো। অন্যদিকে ইন্দোনেশিয়ার রেটিং পয়েন্ট ‘পুওর’ থেকে ‘ফেয়ার’ অবস্থায় উন্নীত হয়েছে। চীন এবং মালেশিয়ার অবস্থান আরো ভালোর দিকে সেখানে বাংলাদেশ কেবল ‘পুওর’ রেটিং নিয়ে তালিকায় ঠাঁই পেয়েছে। এর কারণ হলো বাংলাদেশের অবকাঠামো বিষয়ক বিভিন্ন অসুবিধা। শিক্ষা ব্যবস্থায় রেটিংয়ের দিক থেকেও এগিয়ে চীন, ভারত মালেশিয়া এবং ভারত।