DHAKA : Realizing the potential of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), Bangladesh has decided to set up the Sheikh Hasina Institute of Frontier Technology (SHIFT), a $ 150 million state-of-the-art specialized institute. SHIFT will focus on enhancing capabilities in the fields of biotechnology, nanotechnology, neurotechnology, cyber security, artificial intelligence, internet of things, robotics, block-chain, data science, hyper-automation and other 4IR technologies, technological ethics, behavior and experience engineering, innovation and entrepreneurship. Against the apprehension of some 5.5 million job loss, it is expected that 4IR will create 10 million new jobs in Bangladesh and that frontier technology would be one of the biggest catalysts for turning Bangladesh into a smart, developed country by 2041. Nearly three million people would be provided with training to build capacity on 4IR in the next five years. With this scheme, Bangladesh is expected to become a self-sufficient nation in terms of ICT through collaboration between local and global stakeholders alongside establishing individual inclusive research facilities, and supporting academic & industrial research.
Ship building: A booming industry of Bangladesh
Bangladesh’s ship building industry is relatively new, it started with exporting a ship to Denmark in 2008 for the first time. However, cost-effective human resources, simplified import facilities for raw materials, strong backward linkage ecosystem and duty-free market access coupled with the government’s policy support including cash incentives and tax exemption have spurred significant growth of this industry (5.4% last year). Bangladesh now hosts at least 15 ship building yards of international standard. It is now an emerging player in the world in small and medium sized ocean-going vessels. As a result, there has been a big jump for Bangladesh in ship building industry, moving up over the last five years 13 places to 14th position globally, as per UNCTAD’s latest report. The country is now exporting ships to UK, Netherlands, Finland, Germany, New Zealand, UAE, Pakistan, India, Sudan and Kenya. The industry is experiencing a revival after COVID-19 pandemic. This year, Bangladesh is expected to receive orders equivalent to $ 1.5 billion and eventually, the sector could fetch $ 4 billion a year.
