TOKYO – 29 July 2019 – The Asian Productivity Organization (APO), under a special cash grant from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), has drafted national productivity master plans for Bangladesh and Fiji.
The master plans were released to the Ministry of Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations of Fiji on 13 June 2019 and to the Ministry of Industries of Bangladesh on 22 July 2019. Workshops were subsequently organized on 14 June in Suva and 23–25 July in Dhaka to orient representatives of key institutions on the plan contents and how they can be put into practice.
APO Secretary-General Dr. Santhi Kanoktanaporn (R) and Minster of Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations Parveen Kumar at the ceremony in Suva, 13 June 2019.
APO Secretary-General Dr. Santhi Kanoktanaporn (R) handing over the National Productivity Master Plan 2021–2030 to Bangladesh’s Minister of Industries Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun in Dhaka, 22 July 2019. (Photo: Press Information Department in Bangladesh)
During the handover ceremony in Dhaka on 22 July, APO Secretary-General Dr. Santhi Kanoktanaporn stated that the agility–productivity–innovation nexus should form the core of national sustainable productivity initiatives. He emphasized that productivity itself was “never enough in a world of constant change and uncertainty” and that the Governments of Bangladesh and Fiji needed to become resilient to achieve sustainability while meeting their national development goals.
The focus of the master plan initiative is tailoring efforts to meet the current and future needs of individual members, while expanding the APO’s policy advisory services. After consultations with government units at various levels and thorough review by key stakeholders, the master plans can be adopted as part of national productivity policies or used as drafts for the development of future guideline documents.
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