Skills for Industry Competitiveness and Innovation Program

It will cultivate higher-level technical skills for existing priority and newly emerging sectors, such as electronics, automotive, and pharmaceutical, through partnerships between industries and education and/or training institutes (DLI 3). The skill requirements will be identified by leading industries, particularly for high-demand technology-related skills. Industries will be involved in developing curricula and instructors as well. The Finance Division in the Ministry of Finance is setting up an industry advisory board for the program, consisting of leading industries. Some polytechnics in industrial areas will be converted into specialized polytechnics to offer customized skills courses for emerging industries. This output will also enhance the institutional capacity to produce skilled workers adept at emerging technologies, including green technologies (DLI 4). It will create an automotive skills training center at a polytechnic institute, establish smart textile technology living labs in two textile engineering colleges, and set up high-demand technology-based courses in garments universities and in a light engineering institute. Many of these technical courses will have international partnerships for transfer of knowledge, training of instructors, and capacity development.

Building on the SEIP’s introduction of executive development centers (EDCs) that impart customized mid-level managerial training through university–industry partnerships, the government will further institutionalize the EDCs in partnering universities (e.g., Bangladesh University of Textiles, BRAC University, Dhaka University, and East West University). EDC courses will be redesigned to align with industry’s technology trends and global environmental standards, including green technologies and business practices (DLI 5). This output will also promote applied R&D for industry solutions and incubation opportunities (DLI 6) by providing competitive grants. This initiative intends to foster collaborative innovations in industrial production processes and value-added product or service development. Applied R&D projects supporting the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises and climate-resilient products or services will be prioritized. The government will make efforts to bring overseas scientists and engineers of Bangladeshi origin to contribute to the transfer of knowledge and skills, which will connect local industries and academies to the global network. This will become a basis of developing a government policy or program.

This output will continue to support basic and mid-level skills training of new entrants or existing workers with industry partnerships, following the SEIP's sector-focused training models, covering at least nine priority sectors (DLI 7). These will be implemented in close coordination with the NSDA and NHRDF. It will also create specially targeted skills programs for socially disadvantaged groups (e.g., people with disabilities, transgender people, and people in small ethnic communities); women garment sector workers who are at high risk of job loss because of automation; and those who may be negatively affected by the transition to a low-carbon economy. For women, upskilling and multi-skilling for future garment work or alternative livelihoods, community-based support for empowerment, and green entrepreneurship skills will be provided in partnership with the H&M Foundation and the Asia Foundation. The government will also scale up skills courses with international certification for potential migrant workers, which will enable them to gain better employment opportunities overseas and increase remittance flows (DLI 8).

This output will support the establishment of an Industry Advisory Board for output 1 activities, which will guide the development of advanced technical skills courses by ensuring the coverage of emerging sectors and new skills requirements. The output will continue to enhance monitoring mechanisms, such as the online trainee management system created under SEIP to monitor training performance and track its outcomes. Analytic studies, such as a tracer study and industry skills trends analysis, will be undertaken to assess the effectiveness of new skills programs and to institutionalize effective training partnership models. The output will ensure effective management and governance of skills development systems overall, by undertaking financial audits, internal audits, and performance audits of the RBL program.