Published: 10:53 AM, 04 October 2026
Muktadir calls for AI-driven planning to boost BD’s national productivity
Industries Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir has stressed the need to significantly raise national productivity across manufacturing, services and public administration to sustain Bangladesh’s industrial base and economic momentum amid its growing integration with the global trading system.
He said Bangladesh cannot afford to withdraw abruptly from an increasingly interconnected global economy; rather, it must develop resilient and sustainable competitive advantages through technological adaptation, efficient resource utilisation and targeted human resource development.
The minister made the remarks on Thursday while speaking as the chief guest at a high-level roundtable titled “Productivity Growth in Bangladesh: Challenges and Future Actions” in Dhaka. The National Productivity Organisation (NPO) and the daily Jugantor jointly organised the discussion to mark National Productivity Day 2026.
Muktadir called for stronger coordination among government agencies and urged the authorities to eliminate overlapping activities and duplication in development programmes to improve national economic efficiency and ensure better use of public resources.
He proposed that the Planning Commission and relevant ministries introduce artificial intelligence-based evaluation systems before approving new capital projects under the Annual Development Programme (ADP).
Under such a system, he said, proposed projects could be automatically examined to determine whether their objectives, scope or activities overlap with initiatives already being implemented by other ministries, divisions or agencies.
“Technology-driven scrutiny of development proposals can help identify duplication at the planning stage itself,” he said, noting that such an approach could improve public expenditure efficiency, reduce unnecessary fiscal pressure and address structural bottlenecks in ADP implementation. The minister also stressed the importance of distinguishing between regulatory responsibilities and broader policy priorities in public administration.
He said National Skills Development should primarily be treated as a regulatory issue, while productivity growth is a wider strategic policy concern requiring separate institutional attention, coordination and management mechanisms.
According to Muktadir, the implementation of similar or poorly coordinated activities through multiple projects and ministries can dilute policy objectives and reduce the effectiveness of government interventions.
Turning to the challenges facing Bangladesh’s exporters, he underscored the increasingly intense nature of global commercial competition.
“If Bangladesh fails to produce quality goods and services at competitive costs, competing export-oriented countries will capture its market share,” he warned.
He said the government may provide temporary and appropriately calibrated tariff protection to domestic industries where necessary, but such support should not become a permanent substitute for competitiveness.
Local industries, he added, must use any period of protection to improve productivity, adopt modern technologies, upgrade management practices and develop the capacity to compete independently within clearly defined timeframes.
Muktadir also called for a broader understanding of productivity, saying it should not be viewed merely as an indicator of output generated by workers in factories.
Instead, productivity should become a nationwide culture embedded across businesses, public institutions and society, he said.
The fundamental objective of productivity growth, according to the minister, is to produce greater volumes of higher-quality goods and services while making more efficient use of labour, materials, energy and technology.
Modern machinery and digital technologies, he said, can reduce waste, improve operational efficiency and enhance productivity not only in industrial production but also in public services and everyday economic activities.
Citing Bangladesh’s readymade garment (RMG) industry as an example, Muktadir said the sector had demonstrated that Bangladeshi workers possess a strong capacity to adapt rapidly to new technologies and improve productivity.
He noted that many industrial workers had successfully adapted to technological changes despite having limited access to higher formal education, demonstrating the importance of practical training and workplace-based learning.
However, he identified weaknesses in strategic leadership, practical planning and organisational determination as some of the major structural barriers to achieving the country’s productivity objectives.
“Practical planning, effective deployment of technology, a skilled workforce and accountable leadership are essential to moving the economy forward,” he said.
The minister emphasised that productivity improvement would require coordinated efforts from the government, businesses, workers, educational institutions and other stakeholders.
Industries Secretary Abdun Naser Khan, FBCCI Administrator Fazlul Hoque, Jugantor Editor Abdul Hai Sikder, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Executive Director Naznin Ahmed, and NPO Director General Md Naeb Ali also spoke at the discussion.
Senior government officials, representatives of business organisations, industrialists, economists and trade leaders attended the roundtable.
