Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Thursday stressed the need for creating skilled labour force to address the unemployment problem. Highly educated people in the country remain unemployed mostly on account of time befitting education and necessary skills, he observed. “This is a big concern for us”, he said, adding that the government has taken a number of programmes to create skilled people in the country.
Dr AK Abdul Momen said this while speaking at the inauguration ceremony of a two-day career fair titled “National Job Fair 2019” organized by BRAC University in Bangabandhu International Conference center (BICC) in the city. He mentioned that the government spent $5 billion in last five years in developing the skills of educated people.
The government has put emphasis more on ICT training, technical education and school-college development, he continued, “The government will spend about $2 billion to impart skill development trainings to the youth over the next five years.” “We are working to create 15 million jobs in home and abroad in the next five years,” he said, adding, “The government wants to send qualified and trained people to foreign countries for work.”
Several agreements have already been signed with different countries for training to increase the skills of youth, he added. Last year about 7 lakh people were sent abroad for jobs, he mentioned. The government has been creating 100 special economic zones in the country, he said, adding that at least one million people will be employed there.
The government is providing training to about 3.5 lakh youths in the ICT sector, he said. The government is also providing money to create entrepreneurship, he added. The Foreign Minister said, “We are fortunate that a large sections of Bangladesh's population are young and active.” “49 percent of the population is under 25 years old and 74 percent are working,” he said adding that, “This population will also bring benefits for our country in the future.”
Momen said it is a responsibility of teachers and trainers to make sure that their students get a decent job. Those who will get good jobs will not bring fortune not only to them, but for the whole nation as well, he added. “If we can provide proper trainings, the youth of our country will not only find employment in our country but they can contribute to the global economy also,” he mentioned.
BRAC University Vice Chancellor Professor Vincent Chang also spoke on the occasion. A total of 103 stalls from 70 private and public organisations took part in the fair.
