DHAKA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Bangladeshi government Monday signed a 300 million U.S. dollar loan agreement to strengthen skills base and training programs for Bangladesh's workforce.
The Skills for Industry Competitiveness and Innovation Program aims to increase the technology-oriented skilled workforce across emerging and priority sectors, and promote inclusive skilling and upskilling opportunities for women and socially disadvantaged groups, said the Manila-based lender.
The program will also incentivize industry-university partnerships to nurture innovation capacity, improve industry competitiveness, and foster skills for climate-resilient manufacturing processes and green technologies, the ADB added.
"Improving skills is a key priority of Bangladesh for becoming a middle-income country in 2030 and a developed nation by 2041," said ADB Deputy Country Director in Bangladesh Ning Jiangbo.
The ADB said it will support the government in expanding training partnerships with industries, universities, and training institutions to provide industry-aligned skills training for priority and emerging sectors, such as the automotive, light engineering, and pharmaceutical industries.
