As one of the fastest-growing economies globally, Bangladesh is regarded as the country ripe for investment and entrepreneurship. Boasting an average of 8% annual GDP growth rate in 2019,[16] a highly adaptive workforce, low manufacturing cost and high returns, manufacturers have been paying attention to the potential industry sectors in this country, establishing a keen interest to transform this small South Asian country into the next Asian Tiger.
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https://www.lightcastlebd.com/insights/2022/01/can-bangladesh-be-the-next-hardware-destination/Seen from the previous successful examples, such as Taiwan, Singapore, and South Korea, to achieve a high growth economy, there must be a strong emphasis on rapid industrialization, high-tech manufacturing, and exports. While Bangladesh has been steadily climbing the way with exporting the Readymade Garment (RMG) sector, there has been a lack of significant investment in the hardware industry until now. With the emerging semiconductor industry to Samsung’s assembly plant and Walton’s establishment of the country’s first computer hardware manufacturing plant, Bangladesh has seen positive developments to pave the way as the next hardware destination. [2]
The Burgeoning Semiconductor IndustrySemiconductors are the brain of twenty-first-century modern electronics. Typically made of silicon or germanium, these are the essential chip in computers, smartphones, automobiles, or any other medical equipment. Covid-19 has reshaped multiple industries in the past two years, creating a ripple effect that affected almost every part of our lives. The pandemic forced millions of people indoors, shifted schools and offices to our homes, causing an unprecedented surge in the demand for laptops, computers, and smartphones. Yet, lockdowns and restrictions worldwide caused manufacturers across the world to slow down their production, creating a shortage of these semiconductor chips. During this pandemic, major manufacturers have been pushed to their limits, creating opportunities for new markets to enter the industry.[1] Over the past years, Bangladesh has already entered the smartphone manufacturing and assembling market with successful results attracting interest from companies like Samsung, Nokia, Vivo, and others.
However, the semiconductor chip manufacturing market is still an emergent sector. Currently, only 3 semiconductor companies operate in Bangladesh that provide mainstream chip design services, and these are Neural Semiconductor Limited, Ulkasemi Limited, and PrimeSilicon Limited. Yet, designing a chip is only a part of the entire process; the combination of silicon refinement, intellectual properties, equipment and fine chemicals processing, bonding, assembling and packaging inclusively make up the whole package, all of which sought a low-cost labor wage. According to Trading Economics, the average monthly salary for labor in Bangladesh is just $101, compared to $135 in Myanmar, $170 in Cambodia and $518 in China. These low labor costs are a competitive advantage for Bangladesh’s emerging semiconductor manufacturing industry.
