Bangladesh enters $3 billion semiconductors sector

 

Bangladesh has the potential to export $3 billion worth semiconductors in the next five years, said Salman F Rahman, private industry and investment adviser to the prime minister.

The global semiconductor industry is worth of $3 trillion and many companies are now operating in Bangladesh's semiconductor industry also, for which the ICT ministry has prepared a roadmap, he said. The fourth industrial revolution is going on, so it is time for working on artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and robotics, he also said. Bangladesh will be able to come out of the 'Middle-income country" trap if it can utilise the advanced technologies, Rahman added.

The global semiconductor market size was USD 527.88 billion in 2021 and is projected to grow from USD 573.44 billion in 2022 to USD 1,380.79 billion in 2029, exhibiting a CAGR of 12.2% during the forecast period. Based on our analysis, the global semiconductor market exhibited a rise of 6.8% in 2020 compared to 2019.

He made the comments after a meeting on "Policy Dialogue on Roadmap for Smart Bangladesh" at the office of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority in Dhaka's Agargaon. In the meeting, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT, also spoke.

Global semiconductor sales data released last week showed the industry experienced significant ups and downs in 2022. While chip sales reached the highest-ever annual total in 2022, the slowdown in the second half of the year substantially limited growth. A deeper dive into the year-end data reveals how this pattern is consistent with the semiconductor industry’s predictable cycle and why the current short-term downturn does not change the reality that long-term growth prospects for this foundational technology remain very promising.

In the current cycle, after a brief downturn in early 2020 at the start of the pandemic, the semiconductor industry experienced a period of tremendous growth, and now it is on a significant downward trend that started in the second half of 2022. The current short-term downturn is the result of a confluence of factors, including increasing inflation, geopolitical unrest, and lingering effects of the pandemic. These factors have contributed to macroeconomic uncertainty, decreased consumer spending, and fluctuations in demand for semiconductors. For example, as household spending on consumer electronics like PCs, smartphones, and tablets has decreased, so too has demand for the semiconductors that power them.

Indeed, macroeconomic headwinds have created significant short-term challenges for the semiconductor industry, resulting in weaker industry growth in 2022 than was previously expected. This short-term adjustment, however, does not change the structural drivers of industry growth that are expected to reassert themselves and propel continued growth over the long term. The net of this is semiconductor demand will grow over the long term, as chips continue to make the world smarter, more efficient, and better connected.