NU plans blue economy partnership with Maritime University

Bangladesh possesses ownership over a large swathe of the Bay of Bengal, yet lacks the capacity to sustainably extract its marine resources—forcing the government to rely on foreign expertise, despite global shortages of skilled personnel in this field. Meanwhile, many Bangladeshi youths remain unemployed due to skills gaps.

As a response, the National University (NU) has made ICT and English compulsory at honours level across its affiliated colleges to build employability. NU has also signed MoUs with a2i, the National Skills Development Authority (NSDA) and Unicef to deliver technical training, and is in discussions for joint programmes with the University of New Haven, the City University of New York and Johns Hopkins University. Bangladesh Maritime University (BMU) may also join these initiatives.

Speaking as Guest of Honour at a seminar titled "Blue Economy Growth Initiatives in Bangladesh", held today at BMU, Pallabi, Mirpur, NU Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr A S M Amanullah said institutions like BMU must step forward to expand professional education in maritime, tourism and aviation. NU, he added, seeks to work jointly with BMU so that young people nationwide can access such courses.

The seminar was jointly organised by the NU Innovation & Sustainability Lab and BMU's Faculty of Maritime Business Studies (Department of Maritime Tourism & Hospitality Management).
Assistant Professor Dr Md Saiful Islam (Head of the department) delivered the welcome address. Rear Admiral Dr Khondkar Akhtar Hossain, Vice-Chancellor of BMU, spoke as chief guest, saying BMU is ready to partner with NU—potentially via an MoU—to develop skilled manpower for the blue economy.

Papers presented included: "Blue Horizons: Leveraging AI for Sustainable Development in Bangladesh's Maritime Economy" by Dr Ramiz Uddin, Head of Experimentation, UNDP Accelerator Lab, Bangladesh; "Coastal and Maritime Tourism: Sustainable Development Initiatives for Bangladesh" by Dr Md Anwar Hossain Bhuiyan, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, NU Innovation & Sustainability Lab; and "Ship-Breaking Industry" by Rear Admiral Dr Khondkar Akhtar Hossain.

Following a Q&A, Professor Dr Md Abuddarda, Acting Dean of NU's Centre for Postgraduate Education, Training & Research and Director of the Innovation & Sustainability Lab, delivered the closing remarks.