The contract signing ceremony between Skills for Employement Investment Programme (SEIP) and BRAC Institute of Governance and Development, BRAC University held on February 11, 2018. Mr. Abdul Rauf Talukdar, National Project Director, Skills for Employment Investment Programme (SEIP), Ministry of Finance, on behalf SEIP and Dr. Sultan Hafeez Rahman, Executive Director of BIGD signed the contract. SEIP has been undertaken with the objective of developing skilled workforce for productive and priority sectors. SEIP is utilizing the funds provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
This contract has been signed for training to Mid and Higher Level Managers for Knitwear Sector for establishing an Executive Development Center (EDC) at BIGD to impart managerial training for Knitwear Garment Sector in Bangladesh. Under the financial assistance of the SEIP and ADB, this training programme will be organized in the name of “Post Graduate Diploma in Knitwear Industry Management (PGD-KIM)” by the EDC at BIGD. The program will continue until December 2020.
Mr. Abdul Rauf Talukdar said, we have to build our capacity more, otherwise, we have to hire more managers from outside. This training programme is appreciated by everybody and we need to work hard for its success.
Dr. Sultan Hafeez Rahman said, Education alone is not enough, we have to accelerate the process of skill development that are necessary and critical to economy in various sectors. In line with the situation the SEIP programme will play an important role.
Mr Jalal Ahmed, Executive Project Director, SEIP, Ministry of Finance congratulate BIGD, BRAC University and hoped that BIGD will be able to train the people successfully and put an impact on the growth of this sector.
Ms. Sunhwa Lee, Principal Social Sector Specialist, Human and Social Development Division, South Asia Department, ADB said that the university’s enthusiasm is very important to implement the program. ADB is happy to be a part of this programme, she added.
Serious skill gaps are found at higher levels of employment including supervisors, mid and top-ranking managers, trainers as well as entrepreneurs in the RMG sector (e.g. Textiles, Knitwear, Leather and Footwear, etc.). In addition, an estimated 200,000 foreigners are working in Bangladesh remitting annually US$ 5 billion. The bulk of these foreign workers are supervisors and managers in the RMG sector. In order to address the skill gaps and produce a pool of high quality local managers who would meet the existing and future labor market needs and could gradually fill in the positions of foreigners, the Skills for Employement Investment Programme (SEIP), under the overall supervision of the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Bangladesh, has been introduced to support the large-scale private sector involvement and to promote public–private partnership. BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), BRAC University is an implementing partner of the SEIP. SEIP is utilizing the funds provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).