Bangladesh is taking steps to ease its visa policy for foreign students as part of efforts to attract more international students and strengthen the country’s higher education sector, Education and Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr ANM Ehsanul Haque Milan said on Monday.
Once implemented, the initiative will make it easier for foreign students to obtain visas to pursue higher education in Bangladesh, helping the country become more attractive as an international education destination.
The minister made the remarks while addressing the QS Bangladesh Forum 2026 at a hotel in Dhaka. Representatives from more than 90 Bangladeshi universities attended the event.
Milan called for greater emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), technical and vocational education and training (TVET), and research to improve the quality of education and enhance the global competitiveness of Bangladeshi universities.
He said TVET is essential to transforming Bangladesh’s large population into a skilled workforce and called for expanding technical and vocational education at the university level. He also stressed the need to increase the use of AI in higher education.
To improve Bangladesh’s position in the QS rankings, the minister said universities must expand both the scope and quality of their research. He also highlighted the importance of cross-border education in connecting Bangladesh’s higher education sector more closely with the global academic community.
Milan said Bangladesh has no shortage of talented teachers and students, noting that Bangladeshi students have performed well at universities abroad and made significant contributions to research.
He called for efforts to bring talented Bangladeshis living abroad back to the country through a “reverse brain drain” and utilise their expertise for national development.
“We want to build Bangladesh as an education hub, and we have the capacity to do so,” he said.
University Grants Commission Chairman Professor Dr Mamun Ahmed presented the keynote paper at the event.
Other speakers included Association of Private Universities of Bangladesh Chairman Dr Md Sabur Khan, American International University-Bangladesh Board of Trustees member Ishtiaq Abedin, QS Chief Commercial Officer Jason Newman and QS India Chairman Dr Ashwin Fernandes, who delivered the welcome address.
