(BSS) - BNP Standing Committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury today said BNP has a plan to create one crore jobs in one and a half years and it is not a political slogan, rather it has a well-planned, realistic and implementable roadmap for that.

“We have made this promise after doing homework and analyzing the possibilities. Our plan includes skill development, creating entrepreneurs, preparing workers to increase remittances and exploring creative and digital sectors,” he told a roundtable meeting at a city hotel.

Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) organized the roundtable on “Skilling Bangladesh: Advancing the Skills and Employment Ecosystem for National Growth”.

Khasru said a large part of these one crore jobs will be self-employment-based.

“We want the country`s working population, especially the youth, to create employment opportunities with their own skills, either in the country or abroad,” he said.

Khasru said skill development will be the main tool for the economic progress of Bangladesh in the future.

“Due to the lack of appropriate skills among our youth, foreign companies are now relying on external manpower for medium and high-level recruitment in Bangladesh,” he said.

He said skill development does not happen just by creating training centers. This requires effective connections between universities and industry, realistic training models and proper standard certification, he added.

The BNP leader said self-employment has been given priority in this employment roadmap. The main strategy will be to involve the youth in the economy, especially through skilling and micro-business, he said.

Khasru said due to the structural weakness of Bangladesh`s economy and unplanned development activities, the country has not achieved the desired progress.

Now is the time to bring skill development into the mainstream and make it a national priority, he said.

He also said that technology is now the center of global commerce. If Bangladesh does not invest in technology and human resources, it will lag behind in international competition, he said, adding there is also huge potential in handicrafts and creative sectors.

Khasru said a large number of people in the country are working in creative sectors including rural handicrafts, folk music, theater, fashion design, art, but they do not have any platform for monetization.

He mentioned that if skill development, designing, branding and marketing support can be provided, then these sectors can bring about a huge economic transformation.

Khasru said about the current political context of the country, the election roadmap has already come. The people are waiting for a representative, accountable government, he added.

After the elections, there will be a major turnaround in the economy and skill development will be its main driving force, he mentioned.

BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia`s Senior Assistant Press Secretary Ashiq Islam said, “As a partner of the Global Village, we need to know what is happening globally. Developed countries are going to impose restrictions on remittances. So, we need to prepare for this now.”

BNP Chairperson`s Adviser Dr. Ziauddin Haider and Skill and Migration Expert Dr. Mohammad Nuruzzaman presented keynotes on the aspects, perspectives and challenges of the national skill ecosystem and unlocking $100 billion in remittances through skill development at the roundtable meeting.

BNP Media Cell member and female entrepreneur Mahmuda Habiba, GEN managing director KM Hasan Ripon, BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman`s adviser Dr. Mahadi Amin and National University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. ASM Amanullah, among others, also joined the event.