Stressing the need for developing skilled manpower for increasing national productivity, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday said more training facilities will have to be created for the people involved in productive professions, reports BSS. “There is no alternative to increasing national productivity to turn Bangladesh into a middle income country by 2021. We have to create more training facilities for developing skilled and trained manpower with a view to boosting sector-wise productivity,” he said while speaking at a seminar at CIRDAP here. Acting secretary of the Ministry of Industries Sushen Chanda Das presided over the seminar organized by National Productivity Organization (NPO) marking the “National Productivity Day 2015’. This year’s theme is ‘Increased Productivity is needed in implementing Vision-2021’.
Additional secretary of the Ministry of Industries Jamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, NPO director Md Nazrul Islam and additional research director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Khandker Golam Moazzem, among others, addressed it. Tofail said the rate of the country’s productivity is not sufficient. Manpower involved in different productive sectors will have to be trained for increasing their skills, he added.
He said ‘Digital Bangladesh’ is no more a dream now, it is now a reality.  The government is providing various services to the people by setting up 5,247 digital centres across the country and productivity is increasing in different sectors, he said.
Commerce minister said the rate of poverty is falling down quickly because of the initiatives taken by the present Awami League government and over five crore lower income people have been able to reach middle income level over the last few years. The rate of poverty will come down to 10 percent by 2021, he added. For boosting the productivity in industrial sector, the minister said a proposal for setting up a Special Economic Zone (ECZ) for China was recently approved by ECNEC. Besides, a garments industrial park will be set up at Bausia of Munsiganj with an investment of US$4.50 billion from China, he said. Earlier, NPO organised a colourful rally in the city in observance of the day.