UNDP, BIDA sign MoU for 'Future Nation' programme

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the 'Future Nation' programme to create economic opportunities for all.

According to BSS, ‘Future Nation' is a new coalition of the government, private and development sectors to accelerate the future national economic growth agenda by transforming the country's population into the key driving force of the economy and enabling them to achieve economic independence beyond borders.

Resident Representative of UNDP Bangladesh Sudipto Mukerjee and BIDA’s Director-General Md Ziaul Huq signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organisations in the ceremony held at BIDA's Head Office in Agargaon on Sunday, reports BSS.

Salman Fazlur Rahman, the private sector industry and investment adviser to the prime minister, highlighted the importance of the partnership between private, public and development sectors at the MoU signing programme 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," Salman Fazlur Rahman said.

"Alliances like Future Nation, will not only help us to recover from the Covid-19 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 Future Nation, 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.

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 youths who need it the most. As we celebrate this milestone, I believe that collectively we have the resources needed to do so.”

Senior officials from BIDA, UNDP and GP were present at the signing ceremony.