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Lack of skilled manpower is hindering the private sector’s efforts to reach various development targets set by the government, Md. Jashim Uddin, president of the country’s apex chamber said on Sunday.
The FBCCI president was speaking at its Standing Committee meeting on National Economic Policy and Planning, 8th Five Year Plan, SDG and Vision 2041, held at FBCCI Icon Hall.
He said the garment factories are running with a 15 to 20 per cent skill manpower shortage.
Therefore, entrepreneurs have to depend on foreigners for various positions of management. Although there is no shortage of highly educated youth in the country, there is a lack of necessary skills required in the industry, he said.
The government runs many technical education institutes, but they fail to provide the desired quality manpower. The government must focus on creating skilled manpower to achieve various economic and development goals, he said.
He emphasized that it is imperative to harmonize the formal education curriculum with the industry’s needs.
He called upon the National Skills Development Authority to be more dynamic.
Jasim also called for the recruitment of skilled manpower in government offices to meet the challenges in the post-LDC period.
He said that in future, free trade agreements should be signed and new strategies should be adopted to protect local industries after becoming a developing country. Therefore, the government agencies will need more dynamic and skilled manpower to deal with the more complex global trade issues.
The FBCCI Chief also called upon the government agencies to consult with the private sector before formulating policies. Formulating policies without consulting with private stakeholders often makes them difficult to implement as they do not reflect the field level realities.
Earlier in the discussion, various challenges of industrialization in Bangladesh came up.
The speakers said that the industrialization of the country is mainly stuck in Dhaka and Chattogram. Establishing economic zones across the country alone cannot decentralize the industry unless township is built.
The members of the standing committee spoke on economic development as well as reduction of inequality, improvement of education, Industry-Academia linkage, and formulation of national strategy on the 4IR, women empowerment, and increase in use of renewable energy.
At the meeting, the Director in Charge of the committee Dr. Nadia Binte Amin said the SME sector contributes up to 80 per cent to the economies of developed countries. In Bangladesh this is only 60 per cent. Government policy cooperation needs to be further enhanced to harness the potential of the SME sector.
The meeting was presided over by the Chairman of the committee AKM Shamsuddoha. Among others, also present were FBCCI Senior Vice President Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu, Directors Bijoy Kumar Kejriwal, Md. Naser, Syed Almas Kabir, Secretary General Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque, Advisor Manzur Ahmed, Standing Committee Member Shamim Ahmed, Tasfia Jasim, ASM Mainuddin, Syed Habib Ali, Munir Ahmed, Ayesha Siddique, Shamima Shirin and Dr. Md. Nazmul Islam.
(DS)
