Cisco deepened its commitment to Bangladesh with the launch of Cisco START- a new initiative specifically designed to help Bangladesh’s small and medium businesses (SMBs) build their digital foundation and become globally competitive. This initiative is a demonstration of Cisco’s commitment to accelerate Bangladesh’s digital transformation and showcase how digitization can fuel economic growth, world-class innovation, sustainable competitiveness, and prosperity.
A digitized country aims to drive GDP growth, increase employment, promote innovation, improve research and education, encourage entrepreneurship, accelerate business innovation, foster economic initiatives and sustain infrastructure. Towards that, Cisco is the leading technology partner helping countries become digital hubs of innovation by building sophisticated and forward-thinking IT network ecosystems that allow for greater connectivity, productivity, and security. Cisco will work with government bodies and businesses to grow GDP, create new jobs, empower future workforce, build smart cities, which will enable better quality life for the residents of Bangladesh.
Announcing the launch, Mr. Sameer Garde, President, Cisco India & SAARC said: “Cisco’s association with Bangladesh is over two decades old, and over time it has become an important market for us. We are excited to be a part of Bangladesh’s digital journey and help further the government’s vision to fuel economic growth, world-class innovation, sustainable competitiveness, and prosperity. The launch of Cisco START demonstrates our commitment to accelerate digitization of SMBs in Bangladesh.
He further added “Going digital can truly catalyze growth for SMEs, the backbone of Bangladesh’s economy. With Cisco START, SMBs now have access to digital technologies that can help them digitize and secure their business in the digital era. We want Bangladesh to be ahead of the digital curve, and take advantage of the opportunities it presents.”
High-speed broadband coverage, rising adoption of mobile devices, proliferation of data, improving quality of connectivity as well as the expansion of logistics services and networks are breaking the geographical market barriers for businesses in Bangladesh and opening up new opportunities. Cisco recognizes the SMB market in Bangladesh as a critical industry, which will accelerate Bangladesh’s digitization and create immense opportunities for economic competitiveness and employment.
SMEs in Bangladesh accounted for more than 99% of private sector industrial establishments and employ 70%–80% of the nonagricultural labor force contributing to over one-third of industrial value-added to gross domestic product (GDP). With Bangladesh looking to drive growth through digitization, SMBs have become an essential component of the country’s digital transformation journey. However, SMBs face challenges such as access to right technology, lack of skill sets as well as high entry cost that limit their ability to scale and seize opportunities provided by digitization.
Cisco START aims to make it easy for SMBs and midmarket customers to embrace digitization by providing them with access to a suite of simple, secure and smart enterprise-class technologies, specifically tailored to their needs. More specifically, Cisco START delivers:
