Infrastructure development and skilled manpower are needed in the country’s logistics sector in order to expand foreign trade and compete in international trade, said State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury.
The state minister said this while addressing the pre-launch programme of a diploma course in logistics and supply chain management as Chief Guest at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Chattogram on Sunday.
The diploma course, ‘An eye on vision-2041 of Freight Forwarding and Logistics Sector’s Skill Development’, will be launched in a joint initiative of the Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association (Baffa) and USAID’s Feed the Future Bangladesh Trade Activity.
Skilled human resources in the logistics sector are missing and investments should be made in human resource development. Without skilled human resources the benefits of logistics cannot be tapped, Khalid added.
The private sector is playing a vital role in the economy of Bangladesh and we are now at a turning point. About 60% of our population is the young generation. We have to use them. Baffa has taken timely initiatives to create skilled manpower and many universities have come forward. I wish you success in the new course, he noted.
Chairman of Chittagong Port Authority, Rear Admiral M Shahjahan, spoke as special guest at the event presided by Baffa President Kabir Ahmed.
Marc Shiman, Chief of USAID’s Feed the Future Bangladesh Trade Activity, Asif A Chowdhury, president of Japan-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh, Muhammad Sekandar Khan, vice-chancellor of East Delta University, also addressed the conference.
