Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed on Friday said the Korean government-assisted regional skill development centre in Rajshahi opened a new horizon in developing skilled human resources in Bangladesh.      Expressing his gratitude to the Korean government, he said the centre will help produce highly skilled manpower to meet the increasing demand of both local and overseas job markets.

Minister Ahmed was addressing the opening ceremony of regional Technical Training Centre (TTC) in Rajshahi as the chief guest.

Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), in collaboration with Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment (MoEWOE), organised the event, according to KOICA.

The Minister said KOICA’s cooperation will further strengthen the strategic relationship between Bangladesh and Korea.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam said KOICA is a trusted and long-standing development partner of Bangladesh.

He also hoped KOICA will continue its support to modernise other existing technical and training centres in Bangladesh.

Country Director of KOICA Joe Hyungue assured Korea’s continued cooperation with Bangladesh to enhance employability of young generation towards developing skilled human resources to meet both local and overseas demand, reaffirming stronger ties between the two countries.

Barrister Anisul Islam Mahmud MP, Mayor, Rajshahi City Corporation Md AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, Fazle Hossain Badsha, MP, Secretary, Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Md Salim Reza, Director General, BMET Md Shamsul Alam and Deputy Commissioner, Rajshahi Md Hamidul Hoque were also present.

The upgraded Technical Training Center was established with KOICA’s grant aid of $ 8.5 million as its continued support in Bangladesh to build capacity of youths in Rajshahi and developing industry demand-driven Technical and Vocational Education and Training, aimed to improve capacity of its trainers and employability of its trainees.

Under this project, KOICA established a new academic building and a dormitory, remodelled the existing workshops and provided necessary modern training equipment.