AT least 2.36 billion US Dollars are flying out of the country every year through the hands of some 34,340 expatriates working in Bangladesh. The expat foreigners who get the said amount in salary and allowances are mainly top level managers and administrators – mostly catering to the needs in the textile sector. The remittance flowing out of the country is about one-eighth of what Bangladeshi expatriates send to the country. An unpublished study report of Dhaka University and The Centre of Excellence of BGMEA presumed that actual figure will be much higher as did not take foreigners working in buying houses and other garment-related organisations into account.
However, the question automatically arises: despite being one of the top exporters of RMG products in the world why are we failing to educate and groom world class managers? Be it a – manager or a textile broker – why can’t we get quality service from our mid to top level employees?
Not that we don’t have good quality institutions and faculties, however, either it’s the quality of local education or the students where the shortfalls are definite. Also there are necessary and also needless dependencies on foreign managers in the country. Universities, technical institutions can provide textile and garments-related knowledge to around 25,000 to 30,000 people, which owners find ‘insufficient’ considering the requirement of the industry. Many of the weaknesses explained are actually true. Our students and future managers should also particularly emphasize on how to develop linguistic skills — English or any other language.
We think, this excessive dependency on foreigners has grown because of a typical national characteristic. Over the past decades the subsequent governments and the private entrepreneurs focused on increasing profit margins and export volumes. They never thought of complimenting needs – that means, developing the RMG infrastructure by establishing credible and reliable academic and training institutions.
The government must be liable for the incapability and failure. It is indeed a matter of grave concern, not because more than a couple of billion dollars are flying out of the country every year, but because the country has repeatedly failed to groom smart, educated and specialised top level managers.
