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Bangladesh is an emerging market for IT

Microsoft's Managing Director for Emerging Markets South Asia Region speaks to The Daily Star

Nafid Imran Ahmed
HOW do the bosses of world's number one software company think about the future of IT in our country? Do they even bother or have the time to think about it? Well, they do not only think about it, they actually want to help us to change the future. Ahmed Chami, Managing Director for Emerging Markets South Asia Region of Microsoft Corporation shared his thoughts and views with The Daily Star (TDS) while his short visit to Bangladesh last week.
TDS: Could you tell us what are the objectives of your visit?
A Chami: Actually this is my second visit to Bangladesh. We see Bangladesh as an emerging market for IT. Our company is based in Singapore and our job is to develop and execute a Market Development Plan (MDP) for the emerging markets of South Asia such as Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka etc. Different markets need different plans. In Bangladesh we want to find companies who has the resource to help us evaluate how much progress we have made. At present Southtech Limited is our market development partner in Bangladesh.
TDS: At present what are your activities in Bangladesh?
A Chami: At present I am talking to the local distributors such as Flora, Desktop to survey the market. I am also talking to some Banks regarding corporate account management. We also would like to work with the government of Bangladesh. At present we are talking with the Education Ministry, Ministry for Science, Information & Communication and Technology and Ministry for Commerce.
We want to see how much
improvement we made with Southtech and our MDP. We want to keep the process going. We want to create more interest in Microsoft products.
TDS: What do you think
Bangladesh should do to protect Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in the IT sector?
A Chami: The IPR of any creative work should be protected. If the government of Bangladesh has an IPR law,
then that law should be properly maintained and that will protect the IPR.
TDS: Does Microsoft has any plan for taking IT to the villages and rural areas of Bangladesh?
A Chami: Today we do not have any plan to take IT to the rural areas. At present our priorities are the major cities. But if the government or an NGO comes to us and asks for help we shall help them.
At present our primary focus is youth education sector. To help the youth adopt Microsoft technologies. Secondly, we want to make the people start using the right technology for the right job. And finally to work with the government and make them create an environment where we can invest.
TDS: If India has made
themselves a super powerhouse, why not Bangladesh?
A Chami: India stands where it is today, because of policy development and strategic commitment. It is not we who made them a super powerhouse. They were looking for strategic partners and we were one of them. We gave them the facilities to work and develop. It is the people, the developers who made India a super powerhouse. I believe you can find similar smart people in Bangladesh too. If there is skilled manpower and a legal environment that facilitates business, we are willing to do the same here. But India is far down the road. Bangladesh could be a super powerhouse, and to do that they have to put all the policies in the right place.
TDS: Tell us something about your new offering, Tablet PC.
A Chami: The Tablet PC is a good and innovative. It's easy to use and the new digital ink technology is remarkable.
TDS: Why do the businesses increasingly prefer to use open source software? And why should one prefer Windows to Linux?
A Chami: I do not dispute open source software. Today deployment is not happening on open source. We find most Linux users in universities. We also provide codes to people who need it. We think that community support is also very important.
I believe innovations will come more from windows platform. Linux falls under General Public License (GPL) which has a lot of shortfalls.
TDS: How do you address issues of security since Windows is a constant target of virus attacks?
A Chami: We have changed our vision on how we shall develop our product. We will go for securities then features. As a consequence of that we are training our people on security to make our products 'secured by design'. We are also keeping all our customers informed about security. I believe Windows has been attacked because of its popularity. We shall make our products more secured in the future. Security is like a journey and Microsoft is just a piece in the puzzle. It is the problem of the whole industry.