Dhaka: The government expects earning $5 billion from software export by 2021 as the ICT sector earned $1 billion in the last fiscal year.

‘Our total export earnings reached $34 billion during the last seven and a half years of the present government,’ State Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak said while replying to a supplementary question in Parliament on Wednesday.

He said the government is setting up Bangabandhu Hi-Teck City aimed at creating around One lakh employment for youths by the next 10 years.

Replying to another question from treasury bench member Muhammad Mizanur Rahman of Khulna-2, Palak said the government has a plan to launch seven digital training buses for providing training to 1.66 lakh women on IT/ITES under ‘Sustainable Women Development on ICT’ programme by the next three years across the country.

‘Digital buses would be used to implement ‘Sustainable Women Development on ICT’ programme through the ongoing ‘Learning and Earning Development Project’ aimed at creating entrepreneurs and skilled manpower to explore the ICT sector,’ he said.

Palak informed the House that the government has trained 3,342 people under ‘Freelancer to Entrepreneur’ programme to create entrepreneurs in the ICT sector.

Replying to another question from treasury bench member Abdur Rouf of Kushtia-4, he said the ICT department is installing Sheikh Russel Digital Lab (computer lab) at educational institutions across the country.