A seminar titled ‘Smart Entrepreneur: Smart Bangladesh’ was organized jointly by Innovation and Development Associates (iDEA) Foundation and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Department on the role and actions of entrepreneurs in building Smart Bangladesh, a press release said Wednesday.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) ‘Labor Force Survey 2022’, the number of unemployed in the country has decreased. In 2017, the number of unemployed was 27 lakhs, which has now decreased to 26 lakh 30 thousand people. The unemployment rate is 3.6 percent of the total labor force. The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia war have increased the number of people out of work as the economy stagnates and slows down.
Once 40 percent of our budget was foreign dependent, now it has come down to just 2%. This is possible because of the hard work of entrepreneurs. More than 40 percent of the total population of the country is youth. In this Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIR) era, it is easy and possible to reduce this number by creating new entrepreneurs.
Former alternate executive director of World Bank, former secretary and former chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and chairman of iDEA Foundation under the chairmanship of Kazi M. Aminul Islam. State Minister of ICT Department Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP was present as the chief guest. Secretary of ICT Department Md. Shamsul Arefin was present as a special guest.
iDEA Foundation Secretary and former senior secretary, Mohammad Shahidul Haque, delivered the welcome speech. Wahid Sharif, MD of Digicon Technologies Limited, and president of Bangladesh Association of Call Centers and Outsourcing (BACCO); Sinthia Akhter Liza, founder of Leading Light Training Institute; And Anir Chowdhury, policy advisor of the Aspire to Innovate (a2i) program under implementation under the ICT Department and supported by UNDP spole ober the programme. The open discussion session was conducted by the head of e-commerce of a2i Rezwanul Haque Jami. Mohammad Navid Shafiullah, Additional Secretary of ICT Department expressed his Vote of Thanks.
