CPD-FES Publication
Digital Platform Economy in Bangladesh
Opportunities and Challenges
One of the defining characteristics of the fourth industrial revolution has been the rise of the digital platform economy. Improvements in access to the internet, as well as increase in the availability of smartphones, has led to the growth of digital platforms in Bangladesh. Ride-sharing applications and food deliveries have become common in urban areas, especially in Dhaka. Nationally, Bangladesh has become the second largest source of online labour in the world. Thus, there are immense opportunities for exploring the scope generating employment among the large number of youth in Bangladesh through the digital platform economy. However, a number of challenges exist which are holding the country back from yielding the full benefit of the Digital Platform Economy. These include, inter alia, lack of access to computers and internet, poor skills of workers, difficulties in obtaining payment from abroad and uncertainties regarding funding that threaten the sustainability of the sector. In order to overcome these challenges, a number of policy recommendations are made such as empowering individuals with market-relevant skills, exploring new financial tools, formulating a 5-year national digital platform economy development plan, creating a national guideline of the use of data generated in digital platforms, amending consumer rights protection laws so that they encompass digital platforms, attracting foreign investors to come to Bangladesh and invest in digital platforms, bringing companies and workers in the digital platform under the tax net, Increasing digital awareness among the mass population, providing tax holidays for new companies entering the digital platform economy and encouraging brick-and-mortar companies to go digital through fiscal incentives.
Authors: Fahmida Khatun, Syed Yusuf Saadat and Md Jahurul Islam
Publication period: May 2021