<span id="m_8019999718621984277gmail-docs-internal-guid-34c3c881-7fff-8ab9-6777-c5f4e9676d58" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">India is a close friend in the process of building digital Bangladesh, said the ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak in Dhaka on Monday. Speaking on the occasion of the award of tender to set up 6 Bangladesh Bharat digital service employment and  training centres in 6 districts of Bangladesh, the Minister outlined several areas of cooperation between the two countries. <br />''<br />''Outlining the cooperation between the two countries in the ICT sector, Zunaid Ahmed Palak said that the two countries are cooperating in the field of Cybersecurity for  which an MoU was signed in 2017. A meeting will be held over the next 3-6 months on Cybersecurity and start-up cooperation. <br />''<br />''He informed that approval of the Cabinet Committee on Government Procurement (CCGP) was obtained on 16 January 2022 for award of work to Indian contractors for package 1 and package 2 of the 12 IT/Hi-Tech Park project being taken up under GoI Lines of Credit and it is expected that physical work would start very soon. <br />''<br />''Describing the vibrant start-up ecosystem of Bangladesh, the Minister said that in the last four years, these start-ups have attracted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) worth over USD 800 million from places like US and India among others. He said that Bangladesh and India are working together to explore the possibility of B2B matchmaking, start-up investment etc. It follows the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to 50 young entrepreneurs from Bangladesh and a similar initiative by the Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to link the start-ups of both the countries. <br />''The Minister spoke about the ongoing discussion between the two countries to set up 50 Bangladesh Bharat Edutrainment Centres in 50 districts with a funding of Taka 50 Crore from India and Taka 150 Crore from Bangladesh. These centres will combine training, virtual classes, mentoring and incubation of professionals as well as act as centres for digital entertainment. <br />''<br />''High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami thanked the minister for expediting the 12 IT/Hi_tech Park Project. The High Commissioner said that these IT/Hi-Tech parks would serve as a landmark in the journey of Bangladesh towards becoming Digital Bangladesh. He said that apart from economic and technical exchanges, these projects would also help in building linkages between the young entrepreneurs of the two countries. <br />''</span><br />''</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami said that Cybersecurity and Fintech solutions could be two major areas of cooperation between India and Bangladesh. In the field of Fintech, India is today one of the biggest markets with the highest number of transactions per day in the world. India and Bangladesh could therefore look at cooperation in the sector of Fintech solutions to make  financial transactions safe and efficient, said the High Commissioner.</span><br />