Declaration for skills development adopted

The 'Dhaka Skills Declaration 2016' was adopted on Tuesday, aiming for an employment-led growth model by creating a strong workforce and strengthening vocational education in the country.

The declaration was adopted after a three-day tripartite dialogue on “Dhaka summit on skills, employability, and decent work 2016” that started in the capital on December 11.

The labour and employment ministry, Bangladesh Employers' Federation and National Coordination Committee for Workers Education jointly organised the summit to discuss issues like workers' skills, productivity and future action plan.

In the declaration, the organisers expressed their commitment to achieve the sustainable development goals by taking appropriate actions to create jobs and develop human capital.

They also expressed their commitment to turn the country into a regional hub for trade, transport and logistics by adding value in manufacturing, processing and services.

“We shall continue to regularly interact with the organisations responsible for promoting skills and employment among the regional countries and exchange pertinent information with them with an objective to create a regional forum on skills development,” the declaration said.

A national skills development and employment act and national technical and vocational qualifications framework would be formed to widen the coverage in terms of the number of qualification of technical, vocational and professional courses.

They also pledged to align the skills development programmes with the needs of the overseas labour markets, and promote a safe, transparent, accountable and efficient migration.

In order to secure Bangladesh's position in the global supply chain of goods and services in a sustainable manner, they committed to restructuring the competitive advantages based on higher productivity instead of the current basis of low wages.