The missing link of remittance

Amidst the euphoria over record remittance earning, the amount Bangladesh has to pay to foreign nationals working here often makes hardly any news. The president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) made a disclosure at a workshop in the city that the amount that finds its way out of the country is roughly estimated at US$6.0 billion. Remittance inflow, against all odds, is on a higher trajectory and the $14.22 billion for the year 2013-14 is projected to reach $15.05 billion this current fiscal. Expecting the increased figure or percentage of increase on the outflow of money in the shape of foreign nationals' earning from Bangladesh is most likely to be futile. This is evidence enough that the issue is either deliberately overlooked or ignored because the subject is somewhat unpleasant. There is no point taking an evasive action, better it would be to face the issue squarely.
The fact is that the country is lacking in expertise at the top level in many areas. Even at the mid-level, local experts cannot quite meet the demands of information technology and advertisement firms. Foreign consultants are hired not for nothing. Where highly advanced technology is concerned, the country's ability still leaves much to be desired. Such shortcomings are endemic in the majority of developing countries. All this is because of the failure to develop a research and technological base good enough for meeting the local needs in industrial and other mega infrastructural sectors. Well, this much is acceptable. But when it comes to garments factories and similar other enterprises, recruitment of foreign experts at the top level does not speak of good management of affairs.
Garments industry or advertisement firms have been here for more than three decades and by this time, they should have produced enough manpower resources to replace foreign experts at the top. Foreigners who take away $6.0 billion are a small band of skilled manpower. The number of Bangladeshi expatriates earning this amount will be many times more. What is revealing is that Bangladesh's labour force, unlike any other country in South Asia, has witnessed a growth incompatibly higher than its employment growth. The chamber president was to the point when he suggested that this crisis could be turned into an opportunity.
Now the crux of the problem is to accomplish this task. Planning with the manpower is a prime task. Turning manpower into resources requires quality education and training. On both counts, Bangladesh has failed miserably. To make the workforce an asset or an engine of development, there is no alternative to developing these two ingredients. Education needs to be overhauled in order to synchronise with the practical needs of workplaces. There is no point producing graduates whose education has no relevance to the challenges of the time. Even the theories learnt in classes need to be tested and perfected through trial and training in real life situations. Along with streamlining education, there is need for establishing training institutes and centres for raising a crop of skilled manpower.