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Many groups from different countries want to build AI data centers in Bangladesh. Countries like the UK, Japan, and South Korea are talking to different parts of the government. One of them, a UK group called EDIC, has suggested investing around two billion dollars.
The organization wants to build AI data centers in Kaliakoir, Sirajganj Economic Zone in Gazipur, or any economic zone in the country.
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EDIC says that if the AI data center is made, it will help keep the country’s control in the AI field, create a Bengali Large Language Model (LLM), do AI research, and develop strong computing power. Around 10,000 jobs will be created in this area. Over 50,000 indirect jobs and 60,000 families will gain direct benefits.
Discussions have been held with various organizations around the world about AI data centers.
When asked about foreign investment in AI data centers, ICT adviser Rehan Asif Asad said, “There have been discussions with various organizations around the world about AI data centers. It is very important to expand Bangladesh’s data center infrastructure in the next four to five years.”
He said, “The government’s goal is to build AI capabilities based on data centers, so that startups, data center operators, freelancers and innovators can create various applications and services based on it. This is a government initiative, through which the country’s innovation and technology-based service sector will be promoted by building AI-based public digital infrastructure.”
ICT Secretery Md. Mamunur Rashid Bhuiyan said, ‘Discussions are underway with various countries regarding the establishment of AI data centers. Representatives of various countries, including Japan and South Korea are discussing various technical issues. However, no specific proposal has come to us officially so far. Discussions have started at the initial stage and a formal proposal may come in the future.’
UK-based company EDIC wants to invest $2 billion
UK-based company EDIC has proposed to build the country’s first ‘Frontier AI Data Center and Quantum-Ready Sovereign Compute Campus’ through foreign direct investment (FDI) of about $2 billion.
The company has submitted a strategic proposal seeking the government’s cooperation to build this infrastructure in the country’s economic zone. The proposal, signed by the company’s CEO and AI infrastructure architect and associate professor at Ravensburg University, SM Anisur Rahman, has been sent to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.
These investments will come through a consortium of investors. That is, Bangladeshi AI expert SM Anisur Rahman, who works in various institutions around the world, wants to bring these investments to the country in collaboration with various banks and investors around the world.
When asked about the investment, SM Anisur Rahman said, “Many people in Bangladesh are coming up with the idea of ​​data centers, but they are mainly working for business purposes. Our approach is a little different. In addition to attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), we want to build a data center for Bangladesh that will help establish the country as an ‘AI factory’.”
“We want to build this infrastructure in such a way that it becomes an economic foundation for Bangladesh, just like the garment industry,” he said.
Anisur said, “Any software, apps or AI-related activities should be conducted at this data center. Through this, it will be possible to build the local economy, develop skilled human resources and create a strong technology-based ecosystem. Our proposed investment in this project is about two billion US dollars. We want to invest these two billion dollars in Bangladesh.”
In this regard, ADC’s Project Director in Bangladesh, Engineer Mahfuzur Rahman (BUET) and Project Communications Director Ashraful Islam Khan said, “We have submitted proposals to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology and the Ministry. A proposal has been made to allocate space in the Sirajganj Economic Zone or Kaliakair Hi-Tech Park. In the meantime, we have visited Kaliakair Hi-Tech Park. We are continuing discussions at various levels of the government to build an AI data center.”
Plan to implement the project in three phases
According to the proposal, the project will be implemented in three phases. In the first phase (over the next 24 months), a 30-50 MW Frontier AI Data Center will be built. It will house high-performance AI computing infrastructure that will serve government agencies, private institutions, and international customers.
In the second phase (within 24 to 60 months), the capacity of the data center will be increased from 100 to 200 MW. The goal is to develop Bangladesh as a ‘regional AI compute hub’ in South Asia.
In the long term, the third phase will include ‘quantum ready infrastructure’ and a plan to build a national AI research and innovation ecosystem.
The proposal states that most of the country’s data and digital services are currently dependent on foreign infrastructure. If the new project is implemented, it will be possible to store data within the country and the wastage of foreign currency will be reduced. In addition, an opportunity will be created to create a Bengali language-based Large Language Model (LLM) in line with national priorities. At the same time, the data of about 180 million people can be stored under the country’s own legal framework.
The proposal claims that if the project is implemented, more than 10,000 highly skilled direct jobs will be created in the AI, engineering and digital infrastructure sectors. In addition, there will be more than 50,000 indirect employment opportunities in the supply system and various service sectors. It has also been mentioned that more than 60,000 families will benefit from this in the long term.
A proposal has been made to set up a 100 MW captive power plant to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the data center. It will be expanded further in the future. In addition, there are plans to use renewable energy including solar power and to provide additional power to the national grid.
Several policy support has been sought from the government for the implementation of the project. Declaring the project as a ‘National Priority Investment Project’, expeditious approval and licensing of regulatory agencies, ensuring high-capacity power and water connections in the project area, providing multi-terabit submarine cable connections, and finalizing land allocation and ownership for the project in the economic zone of Bangladesh or other suitable places in the country.
Talking to the relevant responsible persons of the government, it is known that not only ADIC, but also Japan and South Korea are interested in investing in AI data centers in Bangladesh. However, they could not provide detailed information about the amount of their investment or about it.
AI data centers use a lot of clean water and have called for monitoring its environmental pollution, said Md. Sahab Uddin Riyad, Chief Sustainability Officer of Smart Build, an IT company working on AI.
He said, “The most important ingredient for AI data centers is clean water. A huge amount of clean water is required to operate these data centers. Even if a large AI data center is launched in any other country in the world today, it can have an impact on Bangladesh as a climate-vulnerable country. Therefore, we need to plan for water and energy management now, not 10 years later.”
He said, “If a large-scale AI data center is built in Bangladesh, it is important to plan in advance, keeping in mind the existing water and energy crisis. Otherwise, a major crisis may arise in the future.”
Recently ICE Secretery Md. Mamunur Rashid Bhuiyan called on the data center stackholder in ICT division to explain what is actually going on in the data center industry.
The competition to build AI infrastructure internationally is increasing rapidly. With the spread of AI, investment in building AI data centers has started all over the world. Currently, more than a hundred large and medium-sized AI data centers are being built or expanded in various countries in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East (United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia) and Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, and India).
Although accurate statistics are not available, the number of hyperscale and GPU-based AI compute campuses is growing rapidly. Many Bangladeshis and those of Bangladeshi descent are working on AI data centers around the world. They want to bring investment to Bangladesh. Those involved in the country’s information technology sector are seeing this as a positive.
