Speakers emphasise industrial robot assembling in Bangladesh for creating new employment opportunities

The fourth Meeting of the 4IR&ICT Working Committee chaired by Mohammad Rezaul Karim, managing director of BHTPA, was held at Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority (BHTPA) office in Dhaka on Monday (24 July). The meeting discussed the potential of industrial robot assembling in Bangladesh to create new job opportunities.

The BHTPA managing director thanked Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) for coming up with an essential issue of industrial robot assembling, which has got potential in the country, reads a press release.

He said, "With the progression of technology, the business has been increasing, however in some sectors, employment has been reducing, so we will have to create a situation so that we can create new jobs. In that respect, educational institutions have a significant role in upscaling and re-skilling."

He added that the Ministry of Industries (MoI) should also develop technology policies suitable to the present need. He said BHTPA can take the initiative to take specific projects in this respect.

Regarding discussions of the third meeting of the committee on the Data Privacy Guidelines and demand of the telcos for the 5G network after ensuring all the necessary infrastructure, he said, "We need to ensure smooth coverage of the 4G network first before going to 5G coverage. Digital inclusion is the most critical component of this journey, and we need powerful access to reliable and affordable connectivity that is essential to our aspiration towards Vision 2041. We need more research."

"We must ensure competitiveness and capacity for innovative solutions for embracing hi-tech issues and modern technologies."

Ferdaus Ara Begum, CEO of BUILD, presented a keynote titled 'Potential of Assembling of Industrial Robots for Different Industrial Sectors of Bangladesh', highlighting the potential of social and economic impacts of robot assembling, including job displacement, skills development and ethical considerations showing some comparative scenarios of other countries. 

While delivering strategies and recommendations for policymakers and industry stakeholders to harness the opportunities of 4IR for industrialisation responsibly and inclusively, she went on to show the benefits and challenges of using robots for different industries in Bangladesh.

"China and Turkey already use robots in their industrial units, where employment was reduced initially but gradually recovered. Bangladeshi businesses are already stepping into robotics," she said.

"The rise of global value chains (GVCs) and the fragmentation of production processes present opportunities for intra-industry trade and regional economic integration, and entrepreneurs in Bangladesh can exploit GVCs by becoming an assembling hub." 

She also emphasised the implementation of Industrial Policy (IP) 2022, which has given the importance of assembling robots and implementing agencies are MoI, BIDA, BHTPA, BSCIC and Trade and Industry organisations.

The policy paper recommended a survey for demand analysis on the type of robots needed by the factories in the country, updating the robotics strategies, education and skill development programs, use of robots initially in risky areas, university-academia collaboration etc.

Dr Mehedi Anwar, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Connecticut, US, joined virtually and said, if we want to use intelligent and advanced technology, we must go for 5G.

Officials from BHTPA, BIDA, A2i, BASIS and MCCI, among others, were present and spoke on the occasion.