Commerce, Industries, and Textiles and Jute Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir on Saturday stressed the need for enhancing industrial skills and improving the quality of education to make the textile sector sustainable.
“To ensure sustainability of the textile industry, the sector must be made more competitive and modern,” he said while addressing a seminar titled “Sustainable Transition to Employment: Preparation and Pathway for Textile Students” as the chief guest held at the Jute Diversification Promotion Centre (JDPC) in the capital’s Farmgate area.
The minister said the government has no plan to establish or operate any new state-owned mills, adding that the private sector would continue to play the leading role in business operations while the government would provide policy support and create a conducive environment.
Muktadir underscored the importance of updating the curricula of existing textile institutes and engineering colleges to make them time-befitting and aligned with technological advancements.
He said initiatives would be taken to involve the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) and capable private mills with educational institutions to improve the standard of textile education.
Such collaboration, he said, would help reduce the shortage of teachers, promote technological development and provide students with opportunities to gain practical industrial experience.
The minister identified uncertainty in energy supply, rising production costs, cost of funds and technological limitations as major challenges facing the textile sector, saying the government is working to address those issues.
He also said the sector would be made more competitive through the expansion of man-made fibre, development of new products and upgrading the value chain.
Textiles and Jute Ministry Secretary Abdun Naser Khan delivered the welcome speech at the seminar, while Associate Professor Dr Abbas Uddin Shayek of Bangladesh University of Textiles presented the keynote paper.
Executive Director of Blue Planet Kazi Masum Rashed and President of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) Shawkat Aziz Russell joined the panel discussion.
Professor Dr Abdus Shahid of Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology, student Rony Gazi of Gopalganj Textile Engineering College and former student Md Kabir of Sirajganj Textile Institute also spoke at the event.
Heads of different departments and agencies under the Ministry of Textiles and Jute, businesspeople, entrepreneurs, and former and current students of the textile sector attended the seminar.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
