NRB engineers keen on knowledge transfer

Non-resident Bangladeshi (NRB) engineers are keen on investing in the country's infrastructure and IT sector with a view to transferring their acquired technology and knowledge to their country of origin.

They have already placed 38 specific proposals to the prime minister's office.

“We are working with 15 government entities about different projects from our respective fields of expertise,” said Azadul Haq, chairman of the Bridge to Bangladesh, an NRB engineers' platform.

Haq is an electrical engineer at Kinder Morgan, the third largest energy infrastructure company in the US.

“The NRB engineers are ready to invest in Bangladesh and it will be practical, sustainable and implementable,” he said at the press meet for the Convention of NRB Engineers 2019.

The Bridge to Bangladesh, Economic Relations Division and Access to Information (a2i) are jointly organising the conference, the first-of-its-kind, at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka on February 26 and 27.

A total 300 NRB engineers from 30 countries including the US, the UK, Canada, Singapore, Sweden, Japan, Australia, the UAE, the Philippines, Qatar and South Korea will participate at the event.

The government is ready to create an NRB-friendly environment to encourage investment, said ERD Secretary Monowar Ahmed.

The convention will set the stage for professional matchmaking between the NRB engineers and the various engineering and technical fields in Bangladesh.

The government will provide Tk 25 lakh as seed money for the three projects out of the 38 the NRB engineers proposed.

“The NRB engineers will invest out of their own pockets in their interested sector,” said Ahmed. The government will also provide incentive and policy support to the NRB engineers interested in investing in Bangladesh, the ERD secretary added.

“The efficiency level of the NRB engineers is very high, so we should provide them the scope to work for their motherland,” said Ghulam Mohammed Alomgir, chairman of Max Group, the title sponsor of the event.

Sultana Afroze, additional secretary to the ERD (UN wing), and Anir Chowdhury, policy adviser of the a2i, also spoke.