Bangladesh, a country rich in culture and heritage, is located in Southern Asia and the 101th country in the world in terms of sovereign area, the total area being 144000 square kilometers. Bangladesh’s borders predominantly comprise the Bay of Bengal and India with a 93km stretch with Burma. The country has a population of approximately 156 million with a population growth rate of 1.292% (est July 2009) and stands 8th among the most populated countries in the world. Of the total population, 27% is urban population (2008) with a 3.5% annual rate of change (2005 – 10 est).
The economy has grown 5-6% per year since 1996 despite inefficient state-owned enterprises, delays in exploiting natural gas resources, insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Although more than half of GDP is generated through the service sector, nearly two-thirds of Bangladeshis are employed in the agricultural sector, with rice as the single-most-important product. Garment exports and remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas, mainly in the Middle East and East Asia, fuel economic growth.
The GDP (purchasing power parity) of Bangladesh is $224 (est 2008) and the GDP per capita (PPP) is $1500 (est 2008). The service sector is the major contributor to the GDP of the country, constituting 52.3% of the total GDP (2008 est) with the industrial sector following suit at 28.6% and remaining contributions from the agricultural sector. The total labor force of Bangladesh is 70.86 million of which 63% is employed in the agricultural sector, 11% in industrial and 26% in the service sector (FY 1995/96). However, there has been a considerable transition of labor force from the agricultural sector to the industrial and especially to the service sector in the past recent years.
Investment in Bangladesh accounts for 24.3% of the GDP (est 2008). Majority of the investment is being made in the industrial sector, IT and telecommunication, education sector, power and public infrastructure.
The government has also invited the private sector to join hands in public private partnerships for large scale infrastructural projects. With the investment in the IT sector and substantial growth of private schools and universities in Bangladesh, new avenues have opened up for skill development in the IT and service sector and export of skilled resources and intellectual property.
This is commensurate with the large number of graduates in the engineering, architectural and computer science fields from the public and private universities in the country. There are numbers of renowned institutions in Bangladesh providing quality education in the engineering and architectural fields. Some of them are Dhaka University, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET), Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET), BRAC University and so on.
These universities have produced some of the most renowned architects and engineers of the country who are luminaries in their own capacities in Bangladesh and worldwide.
There has also been considerable developments in the architectural and design outsourcing field in this industry in the past few years. This is largely because Bangladesh itself has an advanced market for professionals in this industry. Our human and technical resources have provided competence and efficiency in this field and matched global requirements. In addition to meeting client’s technical requirements, the cost of outsourcing design work to Bangladesh has also posed a lucrative proposition to design houses and real estate developers worldwide.
Given the GDP per capital and a substantially low cost of living, design outsourcing work to Bangladesh can be afforded at competitive rates than those which are currently being offered by other neighboring countries in Asia.
Wednesday, 7 April 2010 02:46 New Scholastica Campus construction status. The engineering dept. has confirmed that the new Scholastica Campus being built in Dhaka will be completed as per the client's deadline...
Wednesday, 7 April 2010 02:36 New contracts this month: OHS has successfully won tenders for providing turn key design and construction solutions for one of the leading financial institutions in Bangladesh...
