BSS :
Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque on Tuesday said that the decision for setting up a technology center at Bangabandhu Hi-tech City is a time befitting one as it would raise the quality of local products into international standard.
“As a result of this, we’ll get newer exportable items like RMG,” he said.
The Liberation War Affairs Minister said this while addressing a function marking the foundation stone laying of Center of Excellence for Engineering and Technology at the Bangabandhu Hi-tech City at Kaliakoir in Gazipur. Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi spoke on the occasion as the special guest.
The center will be set up under the Export Competitiveness for Jobs (EC4J) project.
Presided over by Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Bangladesh Hi-tech Park Authority managing director Bikorno Kumar Ghosh, EC4J project director M Monsurul Alam, Gazipur city mayor Jahangir Alam, Deputy Commissioner of Gazipur SM Toriqul Islam spoke, among others, on the occasion.
Noting that this technology center would play a big role in boosting country’s export earnings, Mozammel hoped that the businessmen would take its benefits through utilizing this center.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said that the qualitative standard and design of local products would have to be of international standard in order to remain competitive globally. “Otherwise, we won’t be able to remain competitive in exports.”
He opined that despite making lower volume of exports, many countries are now earning much higher foreign currency through value addition. “But, despite exporting higher volume of products, we’re earning comparatively less for not being able to make value addition of our commodities due to lack of design and qualitative standard. So, there is a need to improve design of products as well as in thoughts, excellence and qualitative standard.”
The Commerce Minister also opined that through using the technology center, the exporters would be able to remove the barriers, which would appear in the way of exports.
Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh said that this technology center would facilitate manufacturing of world-class products and thus the entrepreneurs would enter global market.
Under the EC4J project, four state-of-the art technology centers would be set up at Chattogram, Gazipur and Munshiganj. Sustainable technology support would be provided to four priority sectors like leather and leather products, footwear, plastic, and light engineering sector from these centers.
The Center of Excellence for Engineering and Technology is being situated on some 5.2 acres of land at the Bangabandhu Hi-tech City at Kaliakoir in Gazipur.
