From May 8 to 12, 2024, four of our members, including our president, visited Bangladesh.
Goals of the trip
- Visiting the country to recruit talented young engineers
- Taking part in CODE SAMURAI, an IT event we sponsored
- Developing and visiting our offshore partner, BJIT
What is CODE SAMURAI?
CODE SAMURAI is one of the largest hackathon contests in Bangladesh. It was planned to discover and develop young, leading engineers who will shape the future of the IT industries in Bangladesh and Japan. SYSLABO took part as a platinum sponsor and presented gifts to the teams with outstanding results.
The IT industry in Bangladesh
Most foreign companies in Bangladesh are in apparel manufacturing and IT. Because import duties on raw materials are high for manufacturing, the IT industry, which needs no raw materials, is attracting attention. There are said to be about 4,500 IT companies and about 600,000 freelancers.
Our impressions
At CODE SAMURAI, teams of three were given 24 hours to build a system that manages the city's garbage trucks, from design to development. That is nine person days per team, while the task would normally take about one person month, so we were amazed by their development speed. Each team also chose its own architecture, and some used new technologies we did not know, which showed how good they are at gathering information.
Above all, we felt real respect for their passion and focus in keeping going for 24 hours. We were sure that students at this level would be very reliable to work with. We heard that the applications built in the contest will be formally proposed to the government of Bangladesh.
At BJIT, we also joined a meeting with local engineers and graduates of BJET, a Japanese language education program. Talking with them, we felt both their high technical skills and their strong interest in Japanese culture.
Looking at their portfolios, we met students with interesting achievements, such as published systems using generative AI and web apps built with a variety of technologies.
When we asked why they want to go to Japan, many said they like Japanese politeness, respect for others, and punctuality. Given the history between the two countries, many people also simply like Japan. It was a chance to see the good points of Japan from the outside.
We built connections with about five local students, which will lead to developing offshore partners and recruiting IT talent in the future.
We also visited the Bangladesh Special Economic Zone (BSEZ), which has international standard infrastructure and services and is run by the governments of Japan and Bangladesh and Sumitomo Corporation, and attended a reception at the Embassy of Japan. We felt the strong ties and great potential between Japan and Bangladesh.
