The philanthropic wing of a Singaporean business organisation will support Bangladesh especially in upgrading technical education and ICT ventures, its top executives have said.
A senior executive of the Temasek Foundation told the FE that they have plans to help Bangladesh upgrade its technical and vocational education and ICT into new heights with financial and technical assistance.
"Temasek has already started work with the Bangladesh government and private-sector agencies for expanding healthcare, technical education and ICT development. Now we have an immediate plan to improve its e-commerce system, too," said Ms Caroline Tan, Head of Communications, Temasek Foundation.
She was talking to this scribe on the sidelines of the International TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) 2015 conference in Singapore recently. The 4-day conference, sponsored by Temasek Foundation, was attended by nearly 350 delegates and experts from 33 countries across the globe.
"Next year, we are likely to visit Dhaka to explore possible cooperation between the government and Temasek to improve the country's e-commerce system," she said.
Temasek Foundation is now working in Bangladesh under three programmes. The Singaporean philanthropy till September this year had provided 1.4 million Singaporean dollars as grants.
For the first time, the Foundation started work with Ispahani Islamia Eye Hospital for capacity building for 345 eye-care professionals in patient screenings, refractive error correction, low vision treatment, capacity development to contribute to the elimination of avoidable blindness in Dhaka by 2020.
The Temasek is now also working to build capacity and capability of 96 Bangladeshi leaders and specialists in e-government service design and delivery through innovation and process streamlining.
Training curriculum for the programme is aligned to the national goals of 'Digital Bangladesh' and the 'Access to Information' Programme mission, the Temasek spokesperson said.
The charity has built cooperation between the National University of Singapore and the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) of Bangladesh for upgrading the e-government system.
Mr Benedict Cheong, Chief Executive Officer of the Temasek Foundation, told the FE: "All over Asia, including Bangladesh, communities are enhancing their TVET systems and integrating the education into their national education frameworks.
"By establishing good frameworks in pedagogy and curriculum, technical and vocational institutions in Bangladesh will be able to offer their graduates better opportunities for employment in the future."
The CEO said the Foundation is playing a role in supporting the next generation of leaders and educators who will help to bring about positive changes to the vocational education and training system in Bangladesh.
He said they would continue programmes that contribute towards human and social development of communities in Asia, with deeper focus on areas like education (includes TVET), healthcare and urban management.
Temasek Foundation is a wing of the Singaporean business giant Temasek. The net portfolio of Temasek is S$266 billion. It has investments in telecom, transport, education, marine and many other sectors in Singapore as well as in many other countries.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Humayan Kabir
Quelle/Source: The Financial Express Bangladesh, 22.11.2015
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