Speakers at a webinar on Saturday urged the government to create opportunities to utilise expatriate Bangladeshis’ expertise in developing infrastructure projects.
They also observed that more attention should be given to improve the country’s educational system to create skilled manpower.
“The existing educational system is not being able to produce quality youths. As a result, they are not getting jobs and remain as educated but unemployed”, said Humayun Rashid, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Energypac, a leading local firm in the engineering and energy sector, while speaking at the virtual seminar organised by Energy and Power managing.
The seminar, titled: “NRB’s & Local Technical Resource Integration For Capacity Development of Bangladesh”, was also addressed by special envoy to the presidency of the Climate Vulnerable Forum Abul Kalam Azad, former power secretary Dr Sultan Ahmed, expatriate educationists Dr Habib Siddiqui, Shafiqur Rahman Bhuiyan, Abdus Saleque,and managing director of Summit Technopolis Abu Reza Khan while magazine editor Mollah Amzad Hossain conducted the function.
The speakers said that certificates of Bangladesh’s vocational institutes are not accepted abroad.
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They said though many expatriate Bangladeshis want to engage themselves in the infrastructure projects to utilize their expertise, no initiative is taken by the government.
Abul Kalam Azad said the Economic Relations Division (ERD) of the Finance Ministry can play a vital role in offering the expatriate Bangladeshis to engage in the infrastructure projects.
The government is executing a project to develop 100 economic zones across the country where they could be employed, he opined.
Dr Sultan Ahmed said if expatriate Bangladeshis are employed in the country’s infrastructure projects, they could provide better services at a lower cost than that being offered by the foreign experts.
Shafiqur Rahman Bhuiyan said many experts in our country are more qualified than foreign consultants.
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“We all need patriotism, honesty and then skills. They are qualified to give opinions on mega projects such as Padma Bridge and Metro Rail. But many times their opinion is not taken”, he added.
Abu Reza Khan said that non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) have many forums. But they should be brought to one forum.
He said if there is any database for the NRBs, then any ministry can utilize the relevant NRB experts when it comes to projects.