Bangladeshi BPO specialists will be able to compete in the worldwide market thanks to this initiative.

In the next five years, the Information and Communication Technology Division (ICT), in collaboration with the private sector, will train 20,000 Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) experts through online training for college and university students.

Agriculture Minister Mohammad Abdur Razzaque inaugurated the BPO skill development training program via the digital platform at Mushuddi Razia College of Dhanbari, Tangail, on Monday as part of the program's debut. A total of 130 college students will receive 60 hours of English language training and 80 hours of German language instruction, both of which are essential for BPO work.

LICT Project Director Tarique M Barkatullah and IT-ITES Policy Adviser Sami Ahmed, Chairman of Golden Harvest Infotech Rajeeb Samdani, and CEO of A2Arena Asub Ullah Khan were among those who spoke during the ceremony, which was chaired by college Principal Keshab Chandra Das. The event was co-organized by the Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) and Golden Harvest Infotech.

According to the minister, ICT has spread to the village level as a result of many efforts implemented under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's active leadership. Frontier technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), as well as robotics, are being implemented in a variety of industries, including agriculture.

Dr Razzaque stated, "There is no alternative to skill development training, and we must build trained human resources for frontier technologies."

Bangladesh has now become a development role model, he added, and this trend must be maintained by fully employing technology to transform Bangladesh into a developed country by 2041.

According to Tarique M Barkatullah, the BPO skill development program would bridge the gap in English and German language skills needed to function in the global outsourcing business. According to him, the training will improve BPO professionals' ability to compete in the international market.

ICT career camps, roadshows, and campus activation, according to Sami Ahmed, are being held in the country's colleges and institutions to encourage students to pursue BPO training and careers. Bangladesh's BPO sector has been gradually growing over the last 12 years, and local institutions, including banking, non-banking, and insurance companies, have expressed interest in outsourcing their work, he noted.

According to Ahmed Rajeeb Samdani, Bangladesh has become an attractive investment location as a result of the government's establishment of an ICT ecosystem.

According to Asub Ullah Khan, they are focusing on developing trained human resources at the village level, which is why this training program has been created in Tangail.

The ICT Division of the Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) has partnered with Golden Harvest Infotech to provide BPO skill development training on the WELEARN platform through BCC's training platform: www.bdskills.gov.bd.

Those who successfully finish the training will receive certificates from both BCC and Golden Harvest Infotech.