Photo: DCCI

DHAKA, Oct 27, 2025 (BSS) - Speakers at a roundtable discussion today said 
that Bangladesh should put greater emphasis on developing skilled human 
resources in order to cope with the rapidly changing economic activities 
driven by evolving information and technology.

They said there is also a need for modernization of the country's overall 
education system, expansion of technical and vocational education programmes, 
ensuring adequate budgetary allocation, providing necessary training to meet 
the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), strengthening 
coordination among relevant government agencies and fostering stronger 
industry-academia collaboration. 

Speakers highlighted these issues at a roundtable discussion titled "Smart 
Human Capital Development in the Context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution 
(4IR)" held today at the DCCI Auditorium in the capital.

Executive Chairman of National Skills Development Authority (NSDA) Dr. 
Nazneen Kawshar Chowdhury graced the occasion as the chief guest. 

Dr. Nazneen Kawshar Chowdhury highlighted that there is a lack of 
coordination among government agencies involved in conducting training 
programmes, as well as the limited awareness regarding the importance of 
skills development. 

During its initial phase, NSDA primarily focused on establishing its legal, 
physical and administrative structures, she said, adding, "However, the 
organization now is focusing on training for human resource development." 

In addition, she informed that initiatives have been undertaken to teach the 
Japanese language with government and academic support to send 100,000 
skilled workers to Japan. 

Besides, Nazneen stressed the need for training programmes to upskill the 
women population. The NSDA Executive Chairman also suggested integrating 
skill development with the Fourth Industrial Revolution while enhancing 
public-private collaboration.

In his welcome remarks, DCCI President Taskeen Ahmed said the Fourth 
Industrial Revolution is not just limited to technological transition rather 
it led the world toward a profound transformation in production systems, 
business operations and labor markets. 

He remarked that artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the country's 
industrial and service sectors. 

Citing the World Economic Forum, he mentioned that nearly one-fourth of 
current jobs will be transformed over the course of next five years. He 
stressed that in the post-LDC era, smart human resources will be a key 
instrument to remain competitive. "We must prepare ourselves for technology-
driven employment opportunities."

The Dhaka Chamber President also stated that to tackle this evolving reality, 
Bangladesh must bring fundamental reforms in its education system, focus more 
on technical education and strengthen industry-academia linkage.

In his keynote presentation, Dr. M Niaz Asadullah, visiting Professor of 
Economics, Reading University in the United Kingdom (UK) stressed the need to 
enhance workers' technological skills through rigorous training. 

He also called for modernization of the education system, wider use of 
advanced technologies in technical education and ensuring budget allocation 
for implementing skill development programmes.

Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, president of The Institute of Cost and Management 
Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB), underscored the importance of promoting 
technical education and changing the societal mindset towards vocational 
training. 

Prof Dr. Shams Rahman, Vice Chancellor (VC) of East West University (EWU), 
Mohammed Saiful Hassan, joint secretary of ICT Division, Bangladesh Hi-Tech 
Park Authority, Raisul Kabir, chief executive officer (CEO) of Brain Station 
23, Dr. Muhammad Masroor Ali, Prof of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) 
Department, BUET, Khan Muhammad Saqiful Alam, FCILT, regional senior manager 
of Data & Analytics [Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa] of British 
American Tobacco, M. Shabbir Ali, corporate head of human resource (HR) of 
Transcom Group, spoke at the event.

In the open floor discussion, DCCI former Vice-President M. Abu Hurairah 
emphasized on sending skilled manpower abroad to boost inward remittance flow 
and called for expansion of technical education programmes. 

The DCCI Director Zamsher Ali, Convenor of the DCCI Standing Committee Mir 
Sharukh Islam also spoke at the session. 

DCCI Senior Vice President Razeev H Chowdhury, its Vice President Md. Salem 
Sulaiman, members of the Board of Directors and other stakeholders were also 
present at the event.