“ICT is like oxygen. Somewhere we are playing a role as an implementer, somewhere as a consultant and somewhere as a facilitator. Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ICT Adviser Sajeeb Wazed has taught us that work should not be done in an isolated way but with a whole of government approach, collaboration and coordination mindset.”
Zunaid Ahmed Palak, Minister of State for Information and Communication Technology, expressed such an opinion in the speech of the special guest at the "Launching Ceremony of Digitization of BMET Service" organized by (BMET) at the Westin Hotel in Gulshan of the capital on Thursday.
On the occasion, ICT State Minister said, Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has always said that the government will not do business but will create an environment for doing business. If private institutions work alongside government institutions, Bangladesh will move forward at a faster pace. At present, we can identify ourselves as a strong middle-income Bangladesh, the three main strengths of which are agriculture, clothing and expatriate. These three sectors, agriculture, apparel and expatriate, are the backbone of our economy. He said that, on the one hand, the expatriate brothers and sisters are sending us about 22 billion dollars in remittances. On the other hand, countrymen from the garment industry are providing export earnings of 30-35 billion dollars. 3.5 crore workers in agriculture are the main driving force of our economy. Therefore, we salute our 1 crore 20 lakh brothers and sisters whose blood, sweat and labor provide our salaries, roads, education, health and other basic needs.
The State Minister said, I thank the Expatriate Welfare Ministry that they are also using smart processes. The wealth created by those who are producing more data and analyzing data will become more valuable than natural resources such as oil, gold or diamonds in the future. In addition, today's digitalization of BMET service "Pravasi" app is a big proof of that.
He also said that if we have to move from this middle-income country to a knowledge-based innovative economy to build a knowledge-based smart Bangladesh under the direction of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, then technology must be used in our garment industry, in expatriate employment and in our agriculture. will be Only then we can move towards a smart economy.
Minister of Expatriate Welfare and Foreign Employment Ministry Imran Ahmed was the chief guest on the occasion. Emphasizing on the equal responsibility and partnership of both parties in public-private partnership, he said, 'Whenever we talk about public-private partnership, it has to be a partnership. The government gives the opportunity because it needs the service. Partnerships are already yielding results, one example of which is the BMET database. He said that BMET alone couldn’t do it. Everyone has to work together. Minister said that my job is to send workers abroad. Now it cannot be sent in analog mode, it has to be sent in digital mode.
The minister also said that the purpose of sending in digital mode is so that workers do not have to wait for long. The process of sending workers abroad should be expedited. Digitization will help us in that and the step of sending workers abroad will come down, he commented.
Director General of Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) Shahidul Alam, NDC delivered the welcome address on the occasion. Secretary of Expatriate Welfare and Foreign Employment Ministry Dr Ahmed Muniruch Salehin presided over the event.
