Categories
What the papers say

Women Fish for Profit

A weekly round up of articles about employment, the labor market, skills training and workforce development. This week’s round up is drawn from The Daily Star. Here is the news for the week ending 30th June 2016.

This week in the Bangladesh English Press…

…economists look into the success of budget provisions for women and an expert says guaranteed income for all could work in Bangladesh. The Economist gives Bangladesh a poor report card on labour migration governance while exporters raise concerns about the UK leaving the EU. At the local level small farmers in Kushtia go back to school to learn new agro-technologies, and a group of entrepreneurial women create a fish farm from a disused canal.

Categories
Updates

Avik Bikram Tripura

Avik was a key member of our start-up team. He came on board in March to develop the branding and marketing for our first micro-business, Aroyee.

Aroyee is a fine dining experience served in the comfort your own home. It’s an exciting fusion of Thai cuisine, exotic ingredients from Chittagong Hill Tracts with a fancy Western service.

Aroyee is a social business that trains people from disadvantaged backgrounds to become professional chefs. The business sources ingredients from Chittagong Hill Tracts and works with poor farmers to develop their commercial acumen.

Avik masterminded some of our promotional events including our tie up with Euro Kitchens. Euro Kitchens markets and sells luxury brands in Bangladesh.

Avik finished up this month. He left us with a set of brand guidelines and then rushed off to start his career in film-making.

Good luck Avik and thanks for all your hard work!

Categories
What the papers say

Economic Zones Key

A weekly round up of articles about employment, the labor market, skills training and workforce development. This week’s round up is drawn from The Daily Star. Here is the news for the week ending 23rd June 2016.

This week in the Bangladesh English Press…

…there has been a record FDI flow of $2.2 billion in 2015, which is 44.1% higher compared to 2014. But Economist are skeptical about the targeted GDP growth of 8% because private investment to GDP ratio remains low. As part of private sector development project, World Bank sanctioned a loan of $130 million to Bangladesh. NGOs come together to progress  the Sustainable Development Goals. And Malaysia sends 2500 undocumented Bangladeshi workers home.

Categories
Issues in the Labour Market

Transitions: Next Steps

Youth face many challenges trying to find work, and attaining a certain level of education or certain skills will only get them so far. Not only do skills training programs need to do a better job teaching youth the best and most up-to-date technical skills, they need to teach youth better soft skills. That was made clear by the last post. However, that only tells half the story. Employers also need to be better recipients and need to adopt better practices to get the most of their new, inexperienced youth employees.

To better understand some of these issues, we asked employers and human resource experts what they thought.

Categories
What the papers say

Banking in Rice

A weekly round up of articles about employment, the labor market, skills training and workforce development. This week’s round up is drawn from The Daily Star. Here is the news for the week ending 16th June 2016.

This week in the Bangladesh English Press…

the government extends primary education to class 8 in 20,000 schools and launches an e-learning platform for the rural population. ILO insists  trade union registration is simple and transparent. There are still around 3.4 million children in Bangladesh who work in poor conditions. Bangladesh will receive US $51 million from Denmark to ensure pro poor growth and sustainable development. while farmers struggle to engage in public procurement. And duck farming yields benefits for the poor.

Categories
Updates

Aidan Zizys

Aidan joined Quay Asia for a short-term assignment as part of our start-up team. He spent three months in Nairobi before arriving in Dhaka. Aidan heads back to his home in Toronto this month.

Aidan made an incredible contribution to our analysis of the labour market in Bangladesh. He designed Quay Asia’s monthly post series, “Issues in the Labour Market,” and went on to write the first three of twelve articles, which focused on the transitions between school and work.

“The Nation’s Children” was the second in our Fifty Series. Aidan talked to Mazharul Haque Mintu one of Bangladesh’s freedom fighters from the 1971 Liberation War. Recording Mintu’s memories of Bangabandu’s return to the newly liberated Bangladesh in 1972, Aidan made a video of Mintu’s vivid recollections.

Aidan diligently captured articles in the Bangladesh press about the labour market, workforce development and skills training every week in Quay Asia’s What the Papers Say series.

We’ll miss Aidan and wish him the best of luck in the next phase of his career.

Categories
What the papers say

Beyond Building Labour

A weekly round up of articles about employment, the labour market, skills training and workforce development. This week’s round up is drawn from The Daily Star. Here is the news for the week ending 9th June 2016.

This week in the Bangladesh English Press…

…despite the drop in oil prices and revenue for oil producing countries, Bangladesh still hopes to send another one million labourers to Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.  But activists demand a reduction in migration cost for workers. The World Bank approves a $213 million loan to reduce poverty. Creating new jobs remains a challenge for government. And the International Labour Organization’s “Start & Improve Your Business” program focuses on small businesses to create employment.

Categories
What the papers say

Forced Labour Response

A weekly round up of articles about employment, the labour market, skills training and workforce development. This week’s round up is drawn from The Daily Star. Here is the news for the week ending 2nd June 2016.

This week in the Bangladesh English Press…

…Government invests in ICT training to target those looking for self employment. And a midwives training program is expanded to reduce child and maternal mortality. Global Slavery Index cites Bangladesh response to modern slavery. Child labor continues in tobacco production in poor rural areas. Research shows further opportunity for RMG sector to gain global competitive advantage.