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Bridge the gap between
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Are there any other initiatives?
We recently launched a Career Hub in 10 locations across the country with UNICEF and BRAC. This initiative is supported by Generation Unlimited and UNICEF. There were nearly a thousand youngsters who attended the programme.
We have a great programme called Imagine Ventures, which is a news-led social innovation. This is for youngsters who are creating new ventures to contribute to SDGs. It is in Bangladesh and 42 other countries.
What would you say were the hurdles that you have faced since operating in Bangladesh?
One of the biggest obstacles is accessibility. Youngsters in the last-mile communities, who are the farthest behind and most vulnerable, can be hard to reach.
I visited a tea garden in Sylhet recently and I remember the quote, “99 out of 100 families do not have a smartphone at this tea garden”. So, people don’t have access to the devices they need and that’s a huge issue for the country going forward.
At the career hub launch, we talked a lot about matching: are young people with skills being matched with jobs? Again, technology can play a powerful role there.
There are some fundamental challenges. We had a meeting with the Grameenphone CEO and he reminded me that Bangladesh leapfrogged land connections. Now the entire country is slowly coming online via smartphones.
Adding to what you said, one good aspect of Bangladesh as a country is that people are very good at adapting. What’s your take on this?
One of the big strengths here is the innovation culture -- the entrepreneurial essence of the country.
I talked to a lot of young students recently. In Sylhet, I visited eight or nine different classrooms. I asked youngsters if they want to work for a corporation or start a business. In one of the classes, 90% said they want to start a business or do freelancing. In other classes, it was an even split between corporate work and entrepreneurship. So, there is a real sense of entrepreneurial essence in Bangladesh. People are always finding ways to generate livelihood.
What are your expectations from the private sector? How can they help in the long term?
Corporations are aware that graduates don’t have the skills they need. Corporations want work-ready cohorts of professionals - graduating with future-ready skills to drive businesses forward.
If you look at the demographic of Bangladesh, youth is the largest cohort. You also see companies wanting to give back and engage, partially because those young people will also become their customers.
What is the long-term impact that you see with this new initiative?
We are at the start of a journey. We were founded in 2018, got going in 2019, and then Covid-19 hit us. Our vision is that by 2030, we would like to reach 500 million youngsters with opportunities for skills and connections to employment, entrepreneurship and social impact opportunities.
We think we can achieve our goals by harnessing the power of technology.
Is there anything you would like to add to this conversation?
Business and youth are our two core constituents. The most important message I would have for young people is: you need to build skills for future work; skills that connect to jobs.
We need the private sectors on the table actively to engage and push the education system to define what skills are necessary and how the curriculum needs to change.

Commercial
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He said that commercial snail cultivation is a new concept in his village and the dish remains largely outside of most diets in the country despite being a highly nutritious food.
Hrishi urged the government to take the initiative to begin exports of locally processed snail meat.
Professor Maruf Hossain, chairman of the Food Processing and Preservation Department of HSTU, said snails are a major source of protein.
“And as there is high demand abroad, the export initiative of processed snail meat could help earn revenue, and the farmers will benefit,” he added.