In a webinar organized by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) participants discussed    how to train and rehabilitate returnee workers from abroad in the post Covid environment while laying emphasis on reshaping the training curriculum to create a demand based modern workforce

 Deputy Minister of the Education Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury took part in the discussion as chief guest while DCCI president Shams Mahmud made the opening statement.

Panel discussants include Dr Engr. Md. Sakawat Ali, Director (Training), Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), Shaquib Quoreshi, Enterpriser, Business Intelligence Limited, Engr. Akber Hakim, President, BPCCI and Founder, Centre for Leadership.

Kh. Atique-e-Rabbani, FCA, Managing Director, The Computers Limited.
Md. Abdur Razzaque, Member (Joint Secretary), National Skill Development Authority (NSDA). Mohammad Bashiruddin, Vice President, DCCI, Md Shahidul Alam, ndc, Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare were also among the panelists in the webinar.

Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury  said considering returning of migrant workers, government has decided to withdraw age barrier for getting technical education.
He said our Universities should focus on creating industry's demand based skilled graduates. About 2.8 million students are being enrolled in our Colleges under National University. But we need to modernize our education curriculum as per the requirements of industry.

So re-skilling and up-skilling of our workers as well as returnee migrants is vital, he said adding that to meet up the skill deficit, National Skill Development Authority (NSDA) is doing skill mapping to identify skill gap. He also emphasized on quality technical education, structural change of education system and maximum utilization of ICT and 4 IR. BIDA execurive chairman Sirazul Islam was special guest on the occasion.

The webinar titled "post-covid-19 Bangladesh industry readiness: investment and skills" through      zoom online platform, participants dwelt intensively on the complex socio-economic issue.  

DCCI president Shams Mahmud the country has experienced slower growth of export including in the RMG sector. We have seen job losses both in SME and informal sector.

Industry relocation from China opens up a greater opportunity for Bangladesh, he said adding that the country as the competitive advantage with a demographic dividend. He said 20 percent of our total workforce are engaged in manufacturing despite we need a lot of skilled workforce.

But in the post-covid period, sustaining existing employment and creating more employment will be a big challenge. To take up this situation, Shams Mahmud called for a modernized curriculum, up-skilling and re-skilling of workers, inclusive Digital Infrastructure, and infrastructure development to grab the opportunity of Chinese industry relocation and easier loan access to the SMEs.