Dhaka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday received the ‘ASOCIO-2017 Digital Government Award’ given to Bangladesh Postal Department.

State Minister for Post and Telecommunications Tarana Halim handed over the award to the Prime Minister at the beginning of the regular cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office in the morning, reports the UNB.

Bangladesh Postal Department has been awarded with ‘ASOCIO-2017 Digital Government Award’ of Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (ASOCIO) in Malaysia in recognition of taking multidimensional digital services to rural people.

Tarana received the award from the ASOCIO Chairman on September 18 last.

ASOCIO was established in 1983 involving the National ICT Associations of 24 countries of Asia and Oceania region. It gives awards in four categories every year.

The Prime Minister also received the ‘Silver Award’ of Asia-Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (AFACT) and ‘WITSA Merit Award’ of The World Information Technology Services Alliance (WITSA) from Tarana Halim today.

Bangladesh Postal Department got the ‘Silver Award’ of the AFACT as runners-up in the eAsia Award Competition for its eCommerce-related service ‘Postal Cash Card: Banking for Unbanked People’.

The award was given on September 12 in Taiwan. The AFACT is giving eAsia Award every year for the initiative for bridging digital divide.

On the same day in Taiwan, the WITSA awarded Bangladesh Postal Department with ‘WITSA Merit Award’ for transforming 8500 post offices of Bangladesh into e-centres.

WITSA is the leading of organisation of IT Industries and currently 80 countries are its members, while nearly 90 percent of the world IT market represent to those countries.

The organisation is giving awards in eight categories each year.