Palak for forging partnership with Cyber Wales towards Digital Solidarity

State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak has emphasised on forging partnership with Cyber Wales, a Wales-based representative body to encourage collaboration through clusters, events and competitions and to identify opportunities for the cyber communities, to advance Bangladesh-UK partnership toward Digital Solidarity.

The state minister laid the emphasis as he held discussion with John Davies, Co-Founder and Chairman of Cyber Wales in Newport, United Kingdom, on September 2, an official release said.

Saida Muna Tasneem, Bangladesh High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Faheem Azhar, International Strategic Advisor and Middle East Cluster Manager for Cyber Wales, were also present on the occasion, among others.

In furtherance to previously signed MoU in early 2021 between The state-run Bangladesh e-Government Computer Incident Response Team (BGD e-Gov CIRT) and Cyber Wales in the United Kingdom to mark the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh's independence, both Zunaid Ahmed Palak and John Davies have shown confidence in working more closely in the near future and enable further development of Cyber Cluster, Cyber Skills Growth Working Group, Cyber Accelerator Initiatives and Cyber Incubation Centre development in Bangladesh.

Palak at the discussion, aspired that the government of Bangladesh and Cyber Wales will work more intensively together to develop a digital economy and invest in Cyber Skills and develop stronger Cyber Trade relations with Cyber Wales.

"Bangladesh is going to be one of the leaders in cyber security and will be developing the Cyber Centre for Excellence with our international partners like Cyber Wales. All these initiatives will ensure online security in our country. He pointed out that it is not possible for any country to deal with cyber security alone and said that effective action should be taken collectively through international communication," he added.

Reiterating the observations made by the state minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak on cyber security, Bangladesh High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Saida Muna Tasneem said, It's impossible for any single country alone to face the ever-increasing cyber threats in the digitally connected world. In this regard, we look forward to working closely with the United Kingdom, our long-standing trade and development partner in creating a collective cyber security ecosystem in collaboration with Cyber Wales and other digital businesses and institutions in the UK.

"I am delighted that Bangladesh and Wales Cyber Trade and Investment talks are advancing since the signing of the MoU between Bangladesh e-Government Computer Incident Response Team (BGD e-Gov CIRT) and Cyber Wales to mark the 50 years of Bangladesh-UK Friendship," she further said.

Cyber Wales Co-Founder and Chairman John Davies expressed his pleasure to host the talks about cyber collaboration, saying "Bangladesh already has an enviable talent pool of ICT and telecoms engineers. Cyber Wales is proud to be able to play a small part in helping to enhance cyber capability in a nation that we have such a long-standing and deep relationship with."

He also said the Welsh cyber companies, supported by the local universities, are at the heart of many UK national cyber programmes and we as an ecosystem strive to share best practices and collaborate.

Faheem Azhar, Board of Director, International Strategic Advisor and Middle East Cluster Manager for Cyber Wales, said the relationship between Cyber Wales and the Bangladesh Cyber Community has continued to grow since Cyber Wales collaborated with the National Cyber Drill carried out by BGD e-GOV CIRT in 2020.

"It has been an honour to welcome the Minister of State for ICT and the High Commissioner to Wales. The talks covered a range of topics from business, academia, law enforcement and defence exploring opportunities to collaborate in all areas. We are already planning the return visit to Dhaka later this year," Faheem added.