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HUMAN RESOURCES

Invest in people

Says the Swisscontact chief in an interview with The Daily Star

MD HASAN
Bangladesh should pursue strategies fol lowed by other countries in utilising human resources to become a mid-income country by 2016, says the president of Swisscontact.
In a recent Interview with The Daily Star, Peter GrUschow says government policy support to the private sector, along with human resource development, is key to reaching the goal.
"Bangladeshis arc resilient and receptive to business opportunities. But a lack of proper information among entrepreneurs remains a hurdle."
A business friendly environment and policy incentives help people become more informed about what to do for better business, GrUschow says.
"A supportive and stable political system is very important for the development of any country." In other countries, governments invest in developing human resources by first introducing proper education and policies.
Swisscontact is a Zurich-based organisation founded in 1959 by members of the Swiss private sector and academia for sustainable development cooperation.
The organisation aims to contribute to poverty alleviation by promoting economic and social development in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.
In Bangladesh, Swisscontact has been active since the 1980s and after a hiatus in the 1990s, it has been implementing Katalyst, a market development project funded by governments from Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK. Starting in October 2002, Katalyst is a project under the commerce ministry and GTZ-International Services is Swisscontact's co-implementer.
Gruschow says Bangladesh has prospect of becoming a mid-income country in about seven years.
"It is a real challenge. But hope is a very powerful driver. I believe it is possible. He says large human resource capital is present in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh's private sector is contributing well to economic development. But the
'informal nature’ of the private sector entrepreneurs remains a crucial issue.
"A lack of information is one of the major reasons behind why Bangladesh's private sector does not perform in line with how it should," Gruschow says.
Businesses do not like to register because of a lack of adequate incentives and they are not fully aware of the benefits of doing business under a l egal framework.
A lack of skills development for the labour force is smother problem here along with infrastructure development.
"And of course, at the heart of all these issues is entrepreneurship development by providing proper policy support," he says.
However, he says, Bangladesh could be a prime example for other countries for its rapid private sector development in the last few years.
Citing an example, he says the private sector led revolution in mobile telephony is now playing a vital role in economic development.
"Bangladesh is a very important country for us, as we have many projects here and have much more to do," GrUschowsays.
GrUschow, who worked for 40 years in German-based telecom giant Siemens before joining Swisscontact, said Swisscontact is keen to build its current portfolio and work in the long run in Bangladesh with development partners, including the government and the private sector.
He said he found the Bangladeshi government willing to work for poverty alleviation.
In line with the government's priorities, Swisscontact is working here to further the development goals. "We want to contribute towards unleashing the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to create opportunities for the poor. Sustainable economic development and inclusive growth are what we want to contribute to Bangladesh."
In addition to Katalyst, Swisscontact is engaged in different projects in Bangladesh. Slum dwellers' livelihood development, skills development and social compliance among others are the major projects conducted by Swisscontact. Climate change and gender issues are firmly embedded in Swisscontact projects.
GrUschow says Swisscontact is planning to implement more meaningful projects in the areas of skills development, climate change and governance.
Referring to his visits to some parts of Bangladesh in the north and south, Gruschow says Bangladeshis are enterprising, which is crucial to alleviating poverty.
He says climate change is a crucial issue for Bangladesh now. The government has a role to educate the populace about the prospects and effects of climate change and ways to mitigate and adapt the risks. Furthermore, donor agencies, the private sector and civil society, have their roles in helping Bangladesh address this all too important issue.
hasan@dailystar.net