Industries Minister Dilip Barua said technology is the growth engine for development but the country needs to be selective for adopting it as all technologies are not suitable for it.
“We have to choose technology appropriate for the country’s social, economic, environmental, cultural and ethical conditions. This will not only to ensure growth, but also to maintain social stability, he said.
The minister was speaking at the launching ceremony of a project titled “capacity building in the use of appropriate technology-specific technical and scientific information as a solution for identified development challenges” at a city hotel yesterday.
KH Masud Siddiqui, industries secretary, Dr Kifle Shenkoru, director of World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), addressed the function as special guest with Enamul Hoque, registrar, Department of Patents, Designs and Trademarks of the Ministry of Industries, in the chair.
WIPO, a Geneva-based UN agency, is conducting the project in Bangladesh to help build capacity for use of appropriate technology.
Bangladesh is the third to get this project after Gambia and Nepal which aims to contribute to building capacity in the use of appropriate technology and access to scientific information to address development challenges facing Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
Dilip Barua said appropriate technology requires fewer resources, having less impact on environment. Terming the technology as engine of economic growth, he said the project would help build a middle-income Bangladesh by ensuring appropriate technological development.
WIPO director Kifle Shenkoru said technology could be a powerful tool to cut poverty and attain faster economic growth. The WIPO-supported project will ensure technological development in all sectors including industry, health, education and agriculture.
Bangladesh's development challenges are complex, he said, adding that the project will help attain Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). WIPO is committed to conduct research on technological and scientific information and database for sustainable development.
Masud Sidique described poverty as the main development challenge in Bangladesh and hoped that the project will immensely contribute to increase in food production by improving soil management and evolving HYV rice.
News Source:
The Daily Sun