Bangladesh’s information and communications technology market is expanding fast. Commerce, banking, financial services, telecommunications, manufacturing and government services — digital technology is being adopted across almost every sector. Demand is also rising in step for cloud computing, data centres, artificial intelligence and large-scale data analytics. The country is subsequently turning into an increasingly important market for international technology companies.

American, European and Indian firms already hold strong positions across several segments of Bangladesh’s IT sector. Chinese companies, long established in telecommunications, are now extending their presence into newer fields such as software, data centres, cloud and financial technology. Against that backdrop, geopolitical competition over Bangladesh’s ICT market is taking on a new dimension.

Bangladesh’s ICT market reached approximately $8 billion in 2024 and is projected to hit $20 billion by 2032, according to US-based firm Verified Market Research. The sector is expected to grow at an annual rate of 12.1 percent between 2026 and 2032.

The domestic ICT market consists mainly of hardware, software, telecommunications and cloud technology. Telecommunications accounts for the largest share, at 50 percent, while IT services made up about 37.88 percent in 2024. In the same year, banking, financial services and insurance generated about 21.69 percent of demand.

Digital banking, mobile financial services, cybersecurity, fintech and the modernisation of banking systems are driving greater use of technology and higher spending in the sector. As the financial sector becomes increasingly digital, its use of technology is expanding accordingly. Telecommunications still remains the largest segment, but banking and financial services are emerging as the market’s top growth areas.

Bangladesh’s banks have long relied on solutions from American, European, Indian and domestic providers. Core banking software includes T24 from Switzerland-based Temenos, Flexcube from the US firm Oracle and a range of Finacle products from India’s Infosys. Domestic software platforms are also in use.

Banking technology, however, is not confined to core banking software. It also includes databases, servers, processors, data storage, networks and the infrastructure needed to keep services running through alternative means in the event of a disaster. Foreign technology has long been used in these areas too, with equipment from companies such as Oracle, IBM, Intel, Dell, HPE and Cisco deployed at various levels of the country’s banking infrastructure.

A bank’s technology system therefore rarely rests on any single provider. The core banking software may come from one company, while the servers, processors, databases, networks or data storage come from another.

Chinese companies are now entering the fray. They are looking to expand their presence not only in banking software but also in servers, data storage, data centres, private cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure. Competition is no longer confined to antennas, routers or transmission equipment; it is steadily widening to take in the entire technology infrastructure.

Basab Prasad Bagchi, executive director of Thakral Information Systems Private Limited, told Bonik Barta that Chinese technology still had a generally limited role in the country’s core banking systems. “Commercial banks use Oracle Flexcube, Temenos T24, Infosys Finacle, Tata Consultancy Services and various other international solutions for their core banking software. Servers, processors, data storage and network infrastructure also have a long-standing Western presence from IBM, Intel, Dell, HP and Cisco.”

Chinese technology is more widely used in telecommunications, Bagchi added. “Huawei’s server and network technology is in use in the country. They are no longer confining themselves to telecoms; they are trying to enter cloud, data centres, banking infrastructure and other enterprise technology. Their technology is not seen merely as a cheaper alternative. Many institutions also weigh it in terms of capability and modernity.”

According to Huawei, the Dhaka Stock Exchange uses Huawei’s integrated data centre, virtualisation and flash storage technology. The aim is to strengthen capacity for trading, settlement, surveillance and data management while reducing operating costs.

Senior executives and IT officials at several domestic banks said a number of Chinese technology firms had entered the market over the past few years. In their view, the quality of these firms’ products and services has improved, and prices are in many cases competitive. Banks currently rely on technology from the United States, India and elsewhere for core banking and other software. A stronger Chinese presence in the market could open the door to lower spending on banking software and technology infrastructure.

Yet the expansion of Chinese technology companies could become a factor in Bangladesh’s trade agreement with the United States. The deal signed on February 9 contains no outright ban on Chinese technology or on any Chinese company. But it sets out several conditions on technology deemed sensitive to national security, on export controls and on supply-chain security.

The agreement requires Bangladesh to align with US export controls in trade in technology and goods deemed sensitive to national security. Measures must also be taken to prevent the unauthorised re-export or domestic transfer of US-origin or US-controlled technologies subject to the US Export Administration Regulations.

A more consequential condition appears in the closing section of the agreement. There, the two sides agree that Bangladesh will try to limit the involvement of countries they identify as national security concerns in the design, development and supply of software in sensitive technology supply chains, and to increase transparency in such chains.

The conditions could prove particularly significant for Chinese technology companies seeking a way into the Bangladeshi market, since several are subject to US export controls and sanctions. Chief among them is Huawei, which has been on the US Department of Commerce’s Entity List since 2019. Supplying specified goods, software or technology covered by the Export Administration Regulations to the company generally requires a licence.

In June 2026, the US commerce department fined the German firm Bosch $36 million for supplying controlled sensors and software to Huawei without authorisation. Huawei and ZTE also remain on the Federal Communications Commission’s national security “Covered List”, and Washington is broadening the scope of these controls further.

Bangladesh Bank officials say the question of sanctions carries more weight in banking than any price advantage a technology or product may offer. Arief Hossain Khan, an executive director of Bangladesh Bank and its spokesman, argued that trade in goods and services should remain open in a competitive world.

“The world is now far more technology-dependent, modern and competitive than at any time in the past,” Khan said. “Consumers anywhere in the world benefit when competition in business and trade is open. We want an open world, though the global situation is not there. There are various sanctions and restrictions in trade.”

Khan added: “We are always cautious about buying goods from countries and companies blacklisted or sanctioned by the United States and our other major trading partners. Banks here have been given guidance on this. However attractive a proposal from a sanctioned or restricted company may be, we cannot accept it.”

Industry stakeholders warn that Bangladesh’s technology market may find itself squeezed from two directions. Chinese companies seeking to consolidate their position in a fast-growing market will want to push further into data centres, cloud, financial technology and artificial intelligence infrastructure. At the same time, the new trade agreement may require purchasing decisions to take account of whether a given product, or any component of it, falls within the scope of US export controls — and whether the supplier appears on US sanctions or control lists.

ICT Secretary Md Mamunur Rashid Bhuiyan told Bonik Barta that no difficulty in taking technology services from a rival country of the United States had yet come to the government’s attention. He said no one had complained about such a problem so far and that the government would examine the issue if such a situation arose.

ICT-sector professionals said excessive dependence on a single country or technology ecosystem could create future risks involving software updates, equipment and spare parts, licences, technical support and international sanctions. Even if data remains inside the country, foreign control over servers, cloud services, software or maintenance means technological control does not rest entirely with the country.

The country therefore needs to strengthen local data centres and domestic cloud capacity, along with its ability to operate and monitor them, maintain cybersecurity, recover from disasters and, where necessary, shift from one technology to another.

In cybersecurity, they said the country also needs the capacity to conduct independent security audits and monitor risks regularly rather than relying entirely on assessments by foreign suppliers. This is particularly important for banks, government information systems, health data and critical national infrastructure, where the security of technologies and control over access need to be independently assessed. Building enough skilled personnel to operate and assess these systems effectively remains a major challenge for Bangladesh.

Artificial intelligence could add a new dimension to competition in the technology market. Analysts said AI use could grow rapidly in banking, financial services, e-commerce, telecommunications, government services and large corporate organisations. Competition would then extend beyond software and applications to the chips, servers, data centres, cloud services and model infrastructure needed to run AI. The intense competition between the US and China in these areas could also affect Bangladesh’s market.

Fahim Mashroor, chief executive officer of Bdjobs.com Limited, told Bonik Barta: “The use of artificial intelligence will increase further in the coming days. Questions could then arise over which country’s technology is being used, what kind of infrastructure it runs on and whether any provision of a trade agreement could create an obstacle. It’s difficult to say anything with certainty about this now.”

He said freedom in the use of technology was also important alongside security. “We also need to ensure that freedom to use technology is not unnecessarily restricted. Institutions should have the opportunity to choose technology based on their needs, capabilities and risks. This balance will become more important in the future, particularly in artificial intelligence, cloud and other emerging technologies.”

Overall, the geopolitical competition surrounding Bangladesh’s ICT market could intensify, said Tanvir Hassan Zoha, a cybersecurity specialist and prosecutor at the International Crimes Tribunal. “The impact of global technology competition will also be felt in Bangladesh’s market. But Bangladesh’s main priority should be to ensure data security. In particular, the state must have clear capacity to determine where sensitive and strategic data is held, who can access it and who has effective control over it.”