UNDP, Bida partner up for ‘FutureNation’ programme to create economic opportunities
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) have recently partnered up for a new government programme that aims to create economic opportunities for all.
The two parties recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the programme titled FutureNation, according to a press statement.
The programme, a collaboration between the government, private and development sectors, aims to accelerate the future national economic growth agenda by transforming the country's population dividend into the key driving force of the economy and enabling them to achieve economic independence beyond borders.
Sudipto Mukerjee, resident representative of UNDP Bangladesh and Md Ziaul Huq, director-general of Bida, inked the partnership on behalf of their respective organisations in a ceremony held at Bida's head office in Agargaon on Sunday.
Salman Fazlur Rahman, private sector industry and investment adviser to the prime minister, attended the event as the chief guest.
"One of the key agendas of our prime minister is to have more and more public and private partnerships for the country's graduation from LDC," he said on the occasion.
"Alliances like FutureNation, will not only help us to recover from the Covid but also make the future generation ready to withstand the 4th Industrial Revolution and even the 5th Industrial Revolution," he added.
Bida Executive Chairman Md Sirazul Islam said, "Bida holds a significant stake in the goals to be achieved by FutureNation, which is focused on the urgent utilisation of our young population dividend, the emergence of new work, our industrial future and our goal to become a knowledge economy."
"Bida will therefore strongly support this initiative, which will contribute to the emergence of a new Bangladesh, where skills will be one of our commodities in the global market," he said.
Meanwhile, Sudipto Mukerjee said, "I am very happy today as the private sector, government and development partners in Bangladesh are coming together with a common goal – to face the post-pandemic frontier challenges, especially generating economic opportunities for the youth who need it the most. As we celebrate this milestone, I believe that collectively we have the resources needed to do so."
BIDA and UNDP will be working together on Private Sector Platform for post-Covid recovery programs and activities and create economic opportunities for youth through the FutureNation initiative.
