The interim government has proposed an allocation of Tk1,732 crore for the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in the proposed national budget for the next fiscal year, marking an almost 29% decrease from last year’s allotment.
According to the budget speech televised on Monday, this allocation includes Tk100 crore in funds dedicated to promoting young entrepreneurship through start-up programmes in the upcoming fiscal year.
“Considering the potential of the IT sector and to encourage new entrepreneurs in this sector, I propose allocating Tk100 crore as start-up fund in the next fiscal year,” Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed said in the budget speech.
Huge employment opportunities have been created through freelancing as a field of proper application of youth energy. To utilise this opportunity, 'Upazila Service and Information Technology Training Centres' are being set up in 491 upazilas across the country to provide training to the youth. 
To encourage and inspire research and development work on science and technology in the country, special research grants of about Tk16.66 crore have been given in favour of 492 projects in different universities in the fiscal year 2024-25.
In addition, initiatives have been taken to provide fellowships to 1,500 researchers and students by the Science and Technology Fellowship Trust in 2025.
Regarding the tech budget, Mostafizur Rahaman Sohel, a former senior vice president at the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services, mentioned that the proposed budget for technology is stereotyped as there is nothing new.
"We have kept boosting embracing 4IR, AI, ML, etc. But is there anything in this budget to encourage investors to invest in these technology segments? No, there's nothing. Then, how would we expect to grow as a technology hub? Besides, R&D - one of the most crucial aspects of IT- has also been totally ignored. Then how would we expect ourselves to innovate," he said.
For the local software market, the entrepreneur expects to see definite guidance for foreign software usage in Bangladesh. "To curb the aggression of imported software, we proposed having strong guidelines for ensuring 50% mandatory consumption of local resources for big-scale solutions like CBS, SAP & Oracle Financial's implementation & AMC," he said.
The expert believes that the ICT sector will continue to struggle as there is no government patronage.