No alternative to skilled manpower to face 4IR: Salman

FT ONLINE

Prime Minister’s Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman on Saturday said there is no option but to create skilled manpower in Bangladesh to face the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR).

He made the remark while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Startup World Cup 2020, a global startup pitch competition with 30+ regional events across the six continents, at a city hotel.

Foreign Ministry, ICT Division, Venture Capital & Private Equity Association of Bangladesh (VCPEAB) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) powered by e-Generation organised the event in the run-up to the ‘Mujib Borsho’.

Salman F Rahman said the government has allocated Tk 100 crore in the national budget for the information technology and startup sector. “It’s time to create skilled manpower in the field of technology from the primary level.”

The country’s economy improved remarkably in the last 11 years due to the technology. “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is working to meet the 4IR,” he added.

Shameem Ahsan, chairman of VCPEAB and e-Generation, presented the keynote paper titled ‘Venture Capital for Double Digit Growth’ at the programme.

“The Vision 2025 was inaugurated aiming to create a Startup and venture capital-friendly ecosystem in Bangladesh. The vision envisages taking direct employment to 1 million and indirect employment to 5 million by 2020.”

Anis Uzzaman, chairman of Startup World Cup and CEO of Pegasus Tech Ventures, said Pegasus is committed to investing in Bangladesh startup ecosystem. “We’ve already invested in shohoj.com, ajker deal, Bagdoom, Handimama and Digicon.”

“We’ll take the Bangladesh regional winner to Silicon Valley and mentor the team and enable them to compete with the global competitors,” he added.

Top eight companies that took part in finale of the regional event were selected from over 150 applicants.

The finalists were AlterYouth, Cookups, Gaze, Parking Koi, Poshapets, Sigmind.ai, Torun Digital, and Truck Lagbe in alphabetic order.

The finalists pitched their business in front of live audience and jury at the gala finale held in the capital.

The winner was selected by a panel of investor judges, including James Tan, Managing Partner, Quest Ventures; Masa lsono, Principal, DEFTA Partners; Jenni Risku, Founder, Women in Tech Asia; and Ian Sikora, Director, Openspace Ventures.