Bangladesh is generally considered a country that exports unskilled or semi-skilled workers, a fact which affects the remittance Bangladesh earns.

Changes, however, in this scenario have already begun. Manufacturing companies in Bangladesh have begun to train unskilled labourers into international standard workers through different human resource development programmes.

Farid Ahmed and Abul Monsur Mazid, two Bangladeshi skilled workers from British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB), have made their mark as international trainers abroad, opening up new possibilities for Bangladeshi workforce abroad.

Ahmed and Mazid are working as trainers in Poland, elevating Bangladesh’s stature abroad to a new height.

Providing training in a European country is not only a major achievement for Bangladesh but also personal achievement for these two men, who started their career in BATB 30 years ago.

According to the government data, some 96 lakh Bangladeshi labourers are working abroad at present. Out of them, 60.80 percent work force is unskilled.

Ahmed and Mazid worked for BATB as machine operators. Their expertise to run machines was the reason they were sent to Poland to train workers there. Following the two men's success as trainers, BATB is now going to send more staff as trainers to other countries such as Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Singapore.

Ahmed looks back on his career: it started 30 years ago as an unskilled apprentice. He was sent to a polytechnic institute for his basic training. After which, he got the opportunity to become a fully skilled worker in his organisation.

Ahmed said working in a factory can be very difficult if one does not operate as a collective unit. “In my 30 years of work life, I have never experienced any reservations from our organisation when it came to the skill advancement of its employees. The organisation had even arranged to send us to Singapore for better training,” added Ahmed.

It is a matter of great pride for Shehzad Munim, the first ever Bangladeshi managing director of over 100 years old BAT Bangladesh, the leading cigarette manufacturer in the country.  

A special programme was arranged for Ahmed and Mazid, where the managing director himself had handed over Bangladeshi flags to them.

Munim said the trainers will not simply travel from one factory to another as trainers, but that they have gone to a European country to represent Bangladesh as trainers.

BATB is a part of British American Tobacco plc, one of the world’s most international businesses, with brands sold in more than 200 markets around the world.

BATB is listed on the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges. British American Tobacco Group holds 72.91 percent of shares; 12.86 percent is owned by Investment Corporation of Bangladesh, Shadharan Bima Corporation, Bangladesh Development Bank Limited and Government of People's Republic of Bangladesh;

and a further 14.23 percent is owned by other shareholders.