Future leaders of the country think that quality education, innovation and easier access to fund for young entrepreneurs are the keys to taking Bangladesh to the next stage of development.
At a discussion organised jointly by the British High Commission and the Dhaka Tribune yesterday they also said people with better education and competence should lead politics and other sectors so that they could lead change for a better future.
The roundtable which was participated by young leaders from the corporate world, politicians, social activists and entrepreneurs focused the challenges Bangladesh will face in 2025 and how to get prepared to tackle those challenges. Issues that came up were access to quality education for the mass, more focus from policymakers on training through technical and vocational schooling, and also on small entrepreneurs’ access to finance.
Robert Gibson, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh welcomed everyone to the event.
The programme started by forming four groups who were asked to generate stories for Vision 2025 and were given separate topics based on which the discussion started.
The programme kicked off at 5:30pm at the residence of British High Commissioner Robert Gibson.
Politicians attending the programme said it was difficult to join political parties and get nominations but it was also important that the youth took an active interest in politics and got involved in politics to bring about the change. They also stressed the importance of education in politics.
The speakers, however, said different kinds of education systems were preventing Bangladesh from moving forward together and a balanced model was required. They stressed the importance of qualified teachers, noting that more training schools were required for teachers who could provide quality education.
They also emphasised that the access to quality education should be ensured for the whole population and promoting an education system that focused on competence development.
The entrepreneurs said should not rely on Bangladesh’s advantage as a source of cheap labour since everyone was moving towards automation. They stressed that idea-based entrepreneurs would succeed in the future.
Bankers present at the discussion said Bangladesh would achieve the middle income status within seven-eight years and the middle class would increase in size while the rate of poverty would keep declining.
The telecom representatives expressed happiness that 100 million people had access mobile phone communication.
The speakers said women should change their mind set and get involved in the corporate world as the country now had more organisations that promoted and allowed women to grow.
Zafar Sobhan, editor of the Dhaka Tribune, and Jim McCabe, the CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, expressed hope that the forum would help make the necessary changes required to take the country forward.
British High Commissioner to Bangladesh,Robert Gibson said that looking at the young leaders in the discussion he was assured that Bangladesh has a bright future ahead.
Animesh Kundu, Managing Director, OTOBI; Anita G Islam, Partner & co founder, Legal Circle; Ejaj Ahmad, President, BYLC; Hassan Zaman, Chief Economist, Bangladesh Bank, Iresh Zaker , Executive Director, Asiatic; Kazi Monirul Kabir , Country Consultant, Google Bangladesh; Korvi Rakshand, President, Volunteer For Bangladesh; Mir Mahfuz ur Rahman, Partner, AT Capital; Mashruf Habib, Managing Director, Regent Airways; Pial Islam, Founder, Pi Strategy; Tamheed Azizul Haque, Head of Corporate Communications, Grameenphone; Nafid Nabi, Director, BSA Group; Zara Mahbub, SVP, Head of Premium Banking, BRAC Bank Limited; Paval Partha, Environmental activist; Rubaba Dowla Matin, Chief Service Officer, Airtel Bangladesh; Esha Yousuf , Managing Director, Arial Creative Space Ltd; Sonia Kabir, Country Manager, Dell Bangladesh ; Sania Mahmood, Head of Marketing, bKash Limited; Iraj Islam, Co-founder, Newscred; Ayesha Aziz Khan, Director, Summit Group; BNP leader Murad Hamid and AL leader Shahriar Alam MP participated in the event.
Saif Kamal of the Dhaka Tribune moderated the programme.
