Bangladesh Governor Dr Atiur Rahman, handing over \"School Banking Award\" by Bangladesh Bank to Abdus Sadeque Bhuiyan, Deputy Managing Director of IBBL at Bangladesh Bank Training Academy recently.

A two-day banking summit, ‘Asian Banking Summit 2015: Evolving Paradigms in Risk Management’, begins here on Tuesday, which is likely to focus on how the country's banking sector can remain competitive by managing risks along with embracing growth opportunities.

Nimai Management Consultants, a consulting and advisory company based in the UAE, will host the two-day event at Le Meridien Dhaka, UNB reports.

Risk management has been in the limelight in recent times from all key stakeholders within the government and the industry, the organisers said in a press statement on Monday. 

Consequently, there is a challenge for organisations to globally adapt to and strengthen their existing risk management systems to keep pace with the evolving paradigms, the statement said.

They said the two-day summit will provide platforms for the distinguished national and international banking experts to debate on a wide variety of topics ranging from risk management to trade finance, compliance, and IT security.

The summit will bring together MDs, CEOs, DMDs, various heads, chief risk officers, and senior government officials from Bangladesh, Middle East and Asia at a unique event in Dhaka.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank of UAE, Integrated Customised Real Estate Advisory of Dubai and RSA Capital will be the gold sponsors of the event, while Geneva-based International Trade and Forfaiting Association and BIAC are the institutional partners.

The credit training partner is Omega Performance – USA, telecom partner is CityCell and the event and PR partner is Concito PR.

Economic reporter :Over 63 thousand houses have been built under the central bank's housing fund, also known as 'grihayan tahbil'. The houses, built in the past 17 years, provided decent accommodation facilities to 3 lakh 16 thousand people.According to a presentation on the housing fund by executive director of Bangladesh Bank (BB) Abdur Rahim, the size of the fund also increased significantly during the period. The housing fund was established 17 years ago with only Taka 50 crore. The amount rose to Taka 348 crore this year.Rahim made the presentation at a workshop on the role of BB's housing fund in solving housing problem of the poor and ultra-poor people of the society. Bangladesh Bank Training Academy (BBTA) organised the workshop at its premises in Mirpur, Dhaka.Principal Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Md Abul Kalam Azad, the chief guest at workshop, suggested making a strategic plan so administrative could support the lending activities at the field level.

Dr. Atiur Rahman, Governor, Bangladesh Bank, hands over an award to Abdul Aziz, Deputy Managing Director of First Security Islami Bank Limited (FSIBL) in Sylhet on Saturday, for contribution of FSIBL on financial service awareness campaign including school banking among students and general public in the School Banking Conference. BB Deputy Governor SK Sur Chowdhury was also present.

The World Bank yesterday approved an additional $100 million fund to scale up its support to strengthen technical and vocational education in Bangladesh.

The financing will enable two lakh poor students to complete vocational training and diploma courses, the WB said in a statement.

With this additional financing to the ongoing Skills and Training Enhancement Project (STEP), the WB's total support to the programme stands at $179 million, with co-financing of $16.7 million in grants from Canada.

The project offers vocational training opportunities that respond to market demand to the poor. 

To date, more than 1.1 lakh diploma students from low-income households have received stipends in 93 polytechnic institutions.

In addition, nearly 70,000 short-course trainees received free six-month vocational training in 38 trades.

Within six months of completing the courses, 42 percent of the trainees were employed.

Bangladesh needs to create more and better jobs for the 13 lakh youths entering the labour force every year to accelerate economic growth, WB Country Director Johannes Zutt said in the statement.

The additional financing will continue to improve the quality of skills training and employability of youth in local and overseas job markets, he added. It will also expand the coverage of institutional development grants to public and private polytechnic institutions.

With the financing, an increased number of private and public polytechnics will be able to improve classrooms and laboratories, and establish industrial partnerships for internships, job placement and job counselling services.

The additional financing will also scale up the coverage of short-course trainings.

Strong polytechnic institutions can make a meaningful dent in the job market, when their offered courses match with the market needs, said Md Mokhelsur Rahman, WB team leader of STEP.

For the first time in Bangladesh, the project launched the Recognition of Prior learning to assess and certify informal workforce, with no prior formal skills training or certification.

Now, the project will also start an apprenticeship programme in the secondary level vocational training curriculum, he added.