President stresses improved textile education to reduce reliance on foreign experts

From the report

President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday stressed the need to improve textile education and research to produce internationally competitive engineers and specialists and reduce the sector’s dependence on foreign experts. He made the remarks when a seven-member delegation led by Bangladesh University of Textiles (BUTEX) Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Md Julhas Uddin paid a courtesy call on him at Bangabhaban. MP from a reserved seat for women and BUTEX alumna Sanjida Islam were also present.

Describing textiles as one of the country’s major economic sectors, the president emphasized the need to ensure suitable employment opportunities at home and abroad for textile graduates. This would help make proper use of the country’s skilled human resources while earning foreign currency, he said. The president also underscored the need to increase domestic cotton production to meet the raw material requirements of the textile industry. He called for taking initiatives to encourage farmers, explore ways to reduce production costs and strengthen coordination between the agriculture and textile sectors. He further stressed the need for more research into extracting fibers from natural sources, including jute, pineapple leaves and banana plants, alongside the development of synthetic yarn.

During the meeting, the delegation briefed the president on BUTEX’s contributions to the development of the country’s textile and readymade garment industries, as well as its academic and research activities. They also highlighted several issues requiring attention, including infrastructure development, establishing modern laboratories, recruiting additional staff, creating a separate BCS (Textile) cadre, increasing budgetary allocations, and allocating land in Purbachal, Dhaka, for a second campus.