Duty on computer to hurt ICT growth
Four associations fear
Star Business Report
Four leading associations of information and communications technology (ICT) sector have criticised the proposed budget, saying the imposition of duties on computer hardware and software will hold back Bangladesh's ICT growth.In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS), Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), ISP Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) and Bangladesh Computer Association (BCA) said the duty imposition will directly create a negative impact on the use of submarine cable network. The budget for 2007-08 has proposed 10-25 percent duties on computer, computer accessories and software, which have been enjoying zero duty facility since 1998-99. "The SEA-ME-WEA-4 submarine cable network creates a huge opportunity for Bangladesh to join the global information superhighway. The decision to impose duty will push up the costs of submarine cable rental and the government will have to face losses," the statement said. The associations said now local users use only 10 percent of the SEA-ME-WEA-4 bandwidth and the number of users will not increase if the duties are imposed on computer and computer accessories. The associations demanded the continuation of the zero duty facility on computer, computer hardware and software for the growth of the nascent industry. They said the duties will increase the prices of the products and new users will lose interest to procure computers. Md Fayezullah Khan, president of BCS, Sarwar Alam, president of BASIS, Md A Salam, president of ISPAB, and Dr. Aminul Haque, president of BCA, signed the statement. They demanded adoption of e-governance and e-commerce at all government institutions. They also demanded extension of the tax exemption period for software and IT-enabled services until 2013. The leaders also sought separate and specific allocations for ICT sector excluding the telecoms industry. They requested the government to reduce the value added tax on internet use from the existing 15 percent to 2.5 percent. The associations also hailed Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam as he proposed formation of two new funds-- Agriculture Entrepreneurship Fund and IT Equity Entrepreneurship Fund-- splitting the existing Equity Entrepreneurship Fund (EEF). In his budget speech, the adviser also proposed allocation of Tk 100 crore for each of the segments. In the previous budget, the allocation for EEF fund was Tk 200 crore.
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