Experts call for highlighting Bangladesh’s potential to capture global market

In order to capture the global and local markets, Bangladesh needs to accurately highlight the aspects of its potential and success, said experts at a webinar.

"In the vision of the Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the capable daughter of the Father of the Nation, the University Grants Commission (UGC) is organising the 'International Conference on 4th Industrial Revolution and Beyond (IC4IR 2021)' and the 'Mujib100 Industrial Exhibition' as co-located events to build Golden Bangla," said UGC Member Md Sazzad Hossain, at a webinar titled "Current Trends in Global Markets: The Roles Academia and Industries in Bangladesh Can Play," on Saturday. 

"This will truly take the industrial sector of Bangladesh a long way towards progress and prosperity, which will enable the employment market to create an environment friendly to industry and academia by adopting integrated and cohesive strategies as well as the development of academia and industry in Bangladesh," said Md Sazzad Hossain who is also the organising chair of IC4IR 2021.

"We must continue to work to build effective education systems, including new curricula in our education sector. The University Grants Commission and the present government have focused on implementing various plans for that purpose," he added. 

The global economy is going through a crisis because of the Covid-19 pandemic and Bangladesh is trying to overcome the crisis, said the speakers at the webinar.  

Events like the International Conference on 4th Industrial Revolution 2021 and the Mujib100 Industrial Exhibition will create huge potentials for Bangladesh, they said.

Another topic that came up in the discussion at the virtual webinar is that the educated, skilled and meritorious students of Bangladesh are doing research and study in different countries. As they gain more knowledge, they become more aware of the current challenges regarding the global employment market, said a press release from the University Grants Commission of Bangladesh. 

The whole world is now a global village. Bangladesh's participation in the global employment market will be stronger if it is possible to increase the capacity of the manpower it has as a developing country. The present government has taken appropriate steps to bridge the gap between industry and academia, which is a huge challenge in the real life, said the speakers at the event.

The speakers also said the International Conference on 4th Industrial Revolution and Beyond 2021 and the Mujib 100 Industrial Exhibition organised by the University Grants Commission are also working as important means of connecting with the global employment market. 

Dr Anup Barai, associate professor, WMG, University of Warwick, UK; Bari Kahar, chief learning officer of E2D Education Services; Shams Tania Afroza Islam, senior scientist, Pfizer UK; Professor Md Mamun Habib, visiting scientist, UTA, Arlington, USA; Nishan Kumar Biswas, associate scientist, Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center, USA; Md Sadek Ferdous, research fellow, Fraunhofer FIT, Germany; Ahsan Chowdhury, associate vice president, Aerospace Center, University of Texas, USA, participated as speakers at the webinar. Prof Md Sarwar Morshed, chair, Mujib 100 Industrial Exhibition 2021, was present as the host and Prof Dr M Shamim Kaiser, technical secretary, IC4IR 2021, was present as the co-host.