Bangladesh lags behind comparable countries with regard to skills of its human resources, hurting its global competitiveness, while generation of quality employment is insufficient for its development aspirations, said an expert yesterday.

"If we want to create or leverage new opportunities for employment generation, skills upgradation is a must," said M Masrur Reaz, chairman and CEO of Policy Exchange Bangladesh.

He made the remarks while presenting a keynote speech at a seminar organised by National Skills Development Authority (NSDA) in the capital's Agargaon in observance of "World Youth Skills Day".

Bangladesh ranked 96th as per a Global Skills Report 2024 of Coursera while Vietnam stood 54th and India 87th.

For Bangladesh, it is critical to increase investment, diversify exports and explore new sectors, said Reaz.

"Without the skills improvement, we will not attain the economic growth necessary for Vision 2041," he said.

Global trends are fast shifting in this era of artificial intelligence, creating challenges alongside offering many new job opportunities, such as in the green economy, he said.

"If the country's youth workforce does not prepare by gaining the necessary competence keeping pace with the changing job market, Bangladesh is likely to miss out on reaping potential benefits," said Reaz.

"Although Bangladesh has adopted National Skills Development Policy-2020, we still need to develop long-term skills strategies in line with economic growth strategies and drivers," he added.

Reaz also urged to take up initiatives to address the existing skills gaps and training needs of different sectors.

Speaking as the chief guest, Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, education and cultural affairs adviser to the prime minister, also underscored the need for enhancing the skills of the youths of Bangladesh.

"It is necessary to provide skills training to the youth in the technology profession suitable for the present time by eliminating the skills gap and making them suitable for the labour market at home and abroad by re-skilling and up-skilling," he said.

Prof Muhammed Alamgir, chairman (additional charge) of University Grants Commission, emphasised on signing memorandums of understanding with universities to create a skills ecosystem and formulating an action plan accordingly.

Nasreen Afroz, executive chairman of the NSDA, delivered the welcome speech.