Unemployment emerging as major concern for Bangladesh: Apex Footwear MD

Unemployment is emerging as a serious concern for Bangladesh, warned Syed Nasim Manzur, Managing Director of Apex Footwear Limited.

He made the observation during his presentation at the Industry Talk session of the International Conference on Economics, Business and Technology Management (ICEBTM 2025), held on Thursday at a city hotel.

The two-day event was organised by the School of Business and Entrepreneurship (SBE) of Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB).

Citing official data, Mr Manzur said the country’s unemployment rate rose to 5.08 per cent in 2025, up from 3.66 per cent in 2024—its highest level in the past three years. Youth unemployment stood at 11.46 per cent in 2024, he added.

To address the growing challenge, he stressed the need to create large-scale manufacturing jobs in Bangladesh.

He identified consumer durables, light engineering, mobile phones, pharmaceuticals, furniture, building materials, garments and footwear, food, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), and transport as emerging drivers of manufacturing.

Another keynote speaker at the session was Dr Derek Westfall of Oregon State University, USA.

The session was chaired by Prof Dr Jonathan Liu of Manchester Business School, UK, and Prof Dr Daniel W Lund, Pro-Vice Chancellor of IUB.

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