The roundtable was chaired by Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, Vice Chancellor,
Mr. Suhel Ahmed Chowdhury, Chairman, Janata Bank Limited, Mr. Siddiqur Rahman Chowdhury, Chairman, Agrani Bank Limited, Mr. S.M Aminur Rahman, CEO, Janata Bank Limited, Dr. M.Kaykobad, Professor, Department of CSE, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dr. Hafiz Md. Hasan Babu, Department of CSE, Dhaka University, Mr. Abul Kashem Shirin, Deputy Managing Director, Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited and CEOs of BASIS Member Companies producing banking software were among others present and spoke in the roundtable.
BASIS President Mr. Habibullah N Karim in his introductory remarks dwelt upon the capability of Bangladeshi software companies in producing banking software to cater to the needs of Bangladeshi Banks in the process of automation of their banking system even if the process is in a big scale. However, Bangladeshi banks go for procurement of foreign made banking software which impedes expansion of business of local software companies, BASIS President further said. This kind of roundtable discussion in presence of decision makers from banks, academia, and software companies might help exchange ideas about the capabilities of Bangladeshi entrepreneurs producing banking software for local Banks, he added.
Professor Jafar Iqbal emphasised on taking joint initiative to let the decision makers understand that Bangladeshi entrepreneurs are capable of producing banking software.
Mr. Siddiqur Rahaman Chowdhury, Chairman, Agrani Bank emphasized on strengthening marketing initiatives by Bangladeshi vendors of banking software and change the attitude by Bangladeshi banks towards local software. In most cases, where private banks utilize their own funding for procurement of banking software , no such condition should be embodied in the tender document so that Bangladeshi vendors are bared from participating in the tender, he opined.
Mr. Suhel Ahmed Chowdhury, Chairman, Janata Bank commented to introduce certification by Bangladesh Bank that Bangladeshi banking software should be used by Bangladeshi Banks.
Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, Vice Chancellor of Brac University and chair of the roundtable stated that, banking sector of the country, in fact has been the early user of IT. But in recent times, it is found that local banks including government owned banks are procuring banking software from foreign sources although the requirement of local banks can easily be fulfilled by the local software companies. He urged upon the decision makers of banks not to drive away local vendors deliberately from participating in tenders from procurement of banking software.
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