Bangladesh’s cheap labour and Sri Lanka’s skilled workforce can go hand-in-hand
While the unemployment rate is increasing and labour is becoming very cheap in Bangladesh, the Ministry of Commerce of Bangladesh and the High Commission of Bangladesh in Sri Lanka is encouraging Sri Lankan corporates and businesses to invest in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has very cheap labour whereas Sri Lanka has a skilled workforce to educate and train the young unemployed people in Bangladesh, says Tofail Ahmed, Minister of Commerce of Bangladesh.
He made this comment to the Business Times on the sidelines of a discussion on ‘Bangladesh and Sri Lanka frontiers of economic opportunities and engagements’ that was held at the Galadari Hotel in Colombo on Tuesday.
In Bangladesh’s population of more than 160 million people, 76 per cent of them are youth under the age of 40 and many are unemployed. Every year two million people join the labour force. Sri Lanka has skilled workforce in the IT, Finance, Banking and many other sectors, but the need for labour is tremendously increasing. Bangladesh has plenty of labourers on the other hand which both countries can work together hand-in-hand if partnerships and businesses move to Bangladesh, added Mr. Ahmed.
He also mentioned during the discussion that diversification of products and markets are what Bangladesh is looking at today. “We are the second largest readymade apparel exporters in the world next to China whereas US is the number one market for Bangladesh’s exports. The country is heading towards digitization while the economy and GDP are exponentially growing. We are expecting 8.2 per cent GDP growth target by 2021. Our investment policies are liberal whereas investments will be fully protected by law. While there are platinum factories in Bangladesh, we are planning to set up green factories in the country.”
He noted that agriculture and IT are the key areas in Bangladesh while leather, pharmaceutical and cement industries are growing tremendously in the country.
It was also stated during the discussion that 45 Sri Lankan companies have invested in Bangladesh and only a few Bangladeshi companies are present in Sri Lanka. Bangladesh is the 44th largest economy in the world and one of the largest financial markets in South Asia. Huge opportunities are available in many sectors such as medical tourism, research and innovation. The country is targeting to move into a middle income country by 2021 and a developed country by 2041. 100 economy zones will be set up by the government in Bangladesh, according to officials.