DHAKA, Bangladesh, July 1 (NNN-BSS) -- The World Bank (WB) apparently sharing the same views on the ultimate target of the Digital Bangladesh approach in a report today observed that the Information Communication Technology (ICT) is the key to economic growth and job creation in developing countries like Bangladesh.

The report, "Information and Communications for Development 2009: Extending Reach and Increasing Impact", gives an in-depth look into how the ICT impacts economic growth in the developing countries.

According to the report, access to affordable, high quality internet and mobile phone services enables development at all levels of the economy and society.

"For every 10 percentage-point increase in high speed Internet connections, there is an increase in economic growth of 1.3 percentage points", it said.

It has also identified the mobile platform as the single most powerful way to reach and deliver public and private services to hundreds of millions of people in remote and rural areas across the developing world.

Broadband also provides the basis for local IT services industries, which create youth employment, increase productivity and exports, and promote social inclusion, it said.

As per the report, the bank has referred to the largely untapped global market of the IT industries, which was nearly US $500 billion two years ago. Only 15 percent of the huge market has so far been explored, leaving 85 percent untapped.

The World Bank has suggested the developing countries to take effective initiatives to explore the opportunity for increasing their share at the global marker and creating more jobs.

Expressing optimism on the development of ICT in Bangladesh, the World Bank also mentioned about its activities in this sector in the country.

The World Bank it is now providing technical assistance to the ICT sector, including the IT-enabled services (ITES) and the ICT use by government in different sectors, mobile telephone- based payments, and for the Digital Bangladesh program. -- NNN-BSS