AmCham Pledge Partnership for Bangladesh’s Digital Future Through Innovation, Cybersecurity, Digital Economy and Efficient Governance

• 09 Aug 2026
• 11:00 am
• The Westin Dhaka.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) hosted its Policy Dialogue “Accelerating Bangladesh’s Digital Future: Policy Priorities for Innovation, Investment & ICT-Led Growth” on Sunday, August 9, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at The Westin Dhaka. Mr. Rehan Asif Asad, Advisor to the Honorable Prime Minister on Post, Telecommunication, ICT, Science and Technology, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest.

 

 

In his opening remarks, Mr. Syed Mohammad Kamal, President of AmCham and Vice President of Mastercard, thanked the Government for ratifying the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), noting that the final Act reflects most of AmCham’s recommendations, and welcomed key measures of the Finance Act 2026. He called for greater clarity on the digital permanent establishment provision, reconsideration of the increase in ISPs’ turnover tax, and easing of international payments for technology companies and startups.

The Chief Guest outlined the Government’s five priorities for ICT and telecom: consistent, forward-looking policy under a five-year tax framework; improved mobile and broadband connectivity; Digital Public Infrastructure under “One Citizen, One ID, One Digital Wallet,” built on the Estonian X-Road platform; AI-ready talent; and electronics manufacturing. He cited the UN–ITU finding that every 10% improvement in broadband penetration adds 1% to national GDP.

Moderated by Ms. Rubaba Dowla, Chair of the AmCham ICT Subcommittee and Country Managing Director for Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan at Oracle, the dialogue covered four agendas: enabling a competitive digital economy; building trusted digital infrastructure; accelerating AI, innovation, and talent; and government–industry partnership. AmCham ICT sector leaders of Citibank N.A., Cisco, HSBC, Mastercard, MetLife, Pathao, PwC, Standard Chartered Bank, ShopUp, Visa and other member companies raised specific issues, including open-loop ticketing, opening Bangla QR to international payment networks, the NBR Startup Sandbox provisions, cloud policy alignment with the PDPA, digital signatures, national cybersecurity, and the AI talent gap. In response, the Chief Guest confirmed ongoing actions on these fronts, announced that formulation of a national AI policy will begin in the fourth quarter, and underscored the urgent need to expand submarine cable capacity as fundamental to Bangladesh’s digital sovereignty.

The session concluded with a vote of thanks by Mr. Ala Uddin Ahmad, Vice President of AmCham and Chief Executive Officer of MetLife Bangladesh. The event was supported by Cisco.