Making The Best Use of Knowledge Remittance

Bangladesh Brand Forum organized its first ever NRB Conclave on 30 December 2017. The event was held in the country’s capital with the theme, ‘Transforming Bangladesh through Knowledge Remittance.’ The initiative served as a knowledge podium to pursue the goals of the NRBs and help associate with Bangladesh in a better way. A greater part of the discussion comprised of several ways to engage the Non-Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) to contribute to the national economy of Bangladesh. Ever since Bangladesh’s inception, NRBs have taken significant steps and performed extraordinarily in their residential countries. Many of them are evenly passionate to support the development of Bangladesh through transformation and continuously engage themselves into avenues that allow them to do so.

Amongst many eminent personalities, the Non-Resident Bangladeshis, corporate professionals, policy makers, academicians, and artists were the highlights of the event. The opening ceremony at the event commenced with a speech by Shariful Islam, Founder and Managing Director, Bangladesh Brand Forum where he mentioned, “Bangladesh is at its major state of development and the next 10 years will be very crucial as a nation. Our people must make use of the latest technology, think in the most cutting-edge manner and get familiar with new ways to make an outstanding leap into development. NRBs can contribute vastly in this progression through disseminating their knowledge remittance.”
The later part of the event consisted of three keynote sessions which focused on topics such as ‘The Global Perspective,’ ‘The Bangladesh Economic Story,’ and ‘Story of an NRB Who Made it in Bangladesh.’ The sessions were held by respected NRBs like Lutfey Siddiqi CFA, Visiting Professor-in-Practice, London School of Economics; Faisal Ahmed, Chief Economist, Bangladesh Bank; and Humayun Rashid, Managing Director, Energypac Power Generation Limited. The event consisted of three insight sessions titled, ‘Bangladesh Potential-Role of Diaspora,’ ‘The Story of Praava Health,’ and ‘Message from BCCB.’ Lastly, four-panel discussions were continued by the insight sessions where 21 experts from various industries shared their knowledge as panelists. The panel discussions revolved around the topics, ‘Investment & NRB Challenges,’ ‘The Culture Story of Bangladesh,’ ‘NRB and Future Skill Development,’ and ‘NRB and Transforming the 8 Divisions through Innovation.’ 

Amongst other NRBs, ICE Business Times gained insights from Lutfey Siddiqi and Milton Hasnat on how they wish to boost the country’s development.

Despite having sufficient amount of investment, Bangladesh is still lagging behind regarding the execution of policy. What can be done to build a robust system that would ease out the investment versus political climate situation?
For me, this is a natural extension of the digital Bangladesh, which is a process that’s already in place right now. Indeed, the core infrastructure of digital, whether it is the broadband connectivity or the breathing space for entrepreneurs to start urbanization comes into place here, and a lead can be drawn to E-governance. It’s not about maintaining democracy but how governance is executed in the digital space. This refers to how you can outline specific laws, activities, and processes that can be drawn by the government to third parties. There has to be some feedback or indentification mechanisms to track the execution of policies, and the processes must be transferred from a manual to a digital platform. Therefore, I think the logical next step for digital Bangladesh should be E-governance.

What sort of cross-border collaborations can we look forward to that would accelerate the growth of the economy?
The global economic contest comprises of a platform of stock companies coming from global territories, so there is another tight frontier at every length even for a small investment. Here we can try to build a community to track investors who have been trying to invest in projects outside their local boundaries. Moreover, there can be a mentor-sponsor relationship that can act as an interaction funnel like the way I have. There can also be a domain-specific interaction, where we can engage students studying in universities abroad to ensure a better flow of communication.

How important is it for a country like Bangladesh to integrate into the Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) factor when it comes to investment and risk operational management?
It is imperative for a government to do so. This is because investors who are not even looking for the ESG factors will ask you about your impact on the environment, governance structure, and how your boardroom governance looks like. They would like to know how decision making takes place in the social surroundings. So, it is in the self-interest of a country to invest in the ESG factors for attracting better investment.
What type of education system should the educators in Bangladesh adapt to become more progressive as a nation?
Education is now less about the substance that you teach and more about how you teach it. As information is now quite accessible on YouTube, TedTalks and other platforms, the material can be learnt quite easily. The teachers must execute a method using which the students can acquire knowledge and be able to make others understand it. Students should be taught to build a thought process to help them during research. They must learn to do things in the right manner and with perseverance. For instance, a debate held at a class is sometimes taken personally. Teachers must address issues as such and teach the students the right manner in which this needs to be done.

Could you elaborate on the common causes for the dramatic increase of the number of patients affected by epidemic diseases.
In the recent years, it can be observed that the number of infectious disease like pneumonia, diarrhea, and tuberculosis have significantly decreased. However, a significant incline has been seen in the number of people affected by non-communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. One of the major causes behind it is the lifestyle of people, especially in the urban areas. Although the consumption of food is increasing people are not engaging much in physical activities. Some of the problems also arise from having people from different backgrounds living in other parts of the world. For instance, obesity is counted as a noncommunicable disease in the western world whereas it is referred to nothing as such in this part of the world. Lastly, stress is a significant concern for many people here and adds up to such diseases.

What measures are you taking to develop the sector you are engaged in, particularly in the context of Bangladesh?
At this point, we are trying to negotiate with the policymakers to execute our idea of coming up with a platform where various doctors can be trained about the use of the recent advancements in medical technology. The platform will also help them unlearn the traditional ways of approaching patients and adapt to newer ways in which they can provide patients with a comfortable ground to open up about their diseases in a better way. Models can be built based on research for young doctors to learn and apply in their work.