Bangladesh needs innovation, R&D to fuel economic growth: BIDA chief

The head of the agency that promotes investment has said Bangladesh needs ‘innovation’ and “research and development” to fuel its economic growth in wanting to be a developed country by 2041.

Kazi M Aminul Islam, Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority or BIDA, has called upon the government, academics, and industry to bridge their gap and work together to make that development happen.

He spoke at a seminar at the Bangladesh University of Engineering Technology or BUET on Wednesday where industry leaders, top government functionaries and academics sat together to discuss scopes of collaboration.

The Bangladesh Industrial Technical Assistance Centre or BITAC co-organsied the seminar with the BUET’s Department of Mechanical Engineering for future collaboration on R&D programmes.

The BIDA boss said riding on a labour-based economy, Bangladesh has emerged as the second largest apparel exporter.

“(But) The future will be totally different... (it) will be based on acquiring knowledge and adoption of technology and comparative advantage. We will do better if we have comparative advantage compared to other countries,” he said.

For that, Islam said, knowledge can be acquired, technology can be adopted. “Ultimately it is innovation what will determine our strength and comparative advantage.”

“Innovation means doing better things or doing better way of doing things. Innovation fuels economic growth and it comes from the R&D.”

The BIDA boss said he believed that innovation and R & D initiative would “expand the frontier of knowledge that we have now. That will also add to the pool of technology we have”.

Bangladesh has everything, he noted, to be a “great” country – young population, stable economy, stable and strong political leadership, expanding local market, and at the same time, integration with the global market.

With those, it can achieve the development targets, but for that to happen inclusiveness is needed, and it means taking everybody in.

“We have to work together,” he added, saying BIDA would be ‘happy’ to have any institutional collaboration with universities like BUET.

BITAC Project Director Syed Md Ihsanul Karim proposed cooperation with BUET such as project work for final-year students, research work for MSc and PhD students, triangular agreement between industry, tool institution and BUET, and industrial attachment and short-term apprentice work for fresh graduates.

He said they are building a 10-storey high-tech ‘tool institute’ which will have a fully equipped workshop, office, classroom, library room and dormitory.

The facilities will be of international standards, Karim said. They will also take up a five-year 100 entrepreneurs programme that will include formation of a ‘Tool Society’ and a ‘Tool Village’.

The BITAC project director sought BIDA’s cooperation for the ‘tool village’ which has been proposed by a group of engineers on a 60 Bigha land at Bhulta, Narayanganj.

“The Tool Institute will act as a catalyst for establishing a Tool Village for Tool Society members,” he explained.

BUET Vice-Chancellor Prof Saiful Islam, BITAC Director General Md Mafizur Rahman, and Prof Dr Md Ashraful Islam, head of the mechanical engineering department, also spoke at the seminar.