Tencent wants to enter Bangladesh. What’s its business?

Chinese multinational tech giant Tencent has expressed interest in entering the Bangladeshi market, according to Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, special assistant to the chief adviser on posts, telecommunications and information technology.

In a Facebook post on Monday, he wrote, “American giant Starlink has already come to Bangladesh. The chief adviser approved their license application today.” The arrival of major tech giants in Bangladesh has begun under the guidance of chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus. Many more will follow.

In the same post, he added, “Today, we officially sat with Chinese giant Tencent. They have expressed interest in entering Bangladesh, and we have assured them of policy support at the earliest.”

Tayyab mentioned that the Osiris Group is also coming to Bangladesh. A hyperscale cloud and data center will be installed at the Kaliakoir Hi-Tech Park through local data and cloud companies. A world-class, secured cloud setup is being prepared to accommodate the giants like Meta and Google.

“Professor Yunus is set to present such unimaginable gifts to Bangladesh,” he noted.

Founded in 1998 with its headquarters in Shenzhen, China, Tencent's guiding principle is to use technology for good. It identifies itself as a top internet and technology company. It publishes some of the world's most popular video games and other high-quality digital content.

At a seminar titled ‘Potential of Gaming Industry in Bangladesh’ in Dhaka last February, it was noted that the global gaming market has surpassed USD 200 billion, which is larger than the music and film industries combined. As a growing economy in the Asia-Pacific region, Bangladesh holds significant potential in the gaming sector. If the industry grows, it would not only boost the digital economy but also contribute substantially to the country's GDP.

Given this context, Tencent is interested in collaborating with local partners to advance the gaming industry and digital sector in Bangladesh.

According to a 2021 report published in Prothom Alo, there is no formal research on the video game market in Bangladesh. Industry insiders estimated the market to be worth around USD 50 million.

Beyond gaming, Tencent also offers a range of services such as cloud computing, advertising, FinTech, and other enterprise services. It owns WeChat, a popular Chinese messaging app, and also works on artificial intelligence (AI).

Tencent has been listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since 2004.