The School of Business and Economics (SOBE) at United International University (UIU) has launched the NEXUS Seminar Series at the university’s campus, introducing a long-term initiative designed to strengthen engagement between academia and industry on issues at the intersection of business, the economy and society, the university said in a press release.
The monthly public seminar series aims to provide a platform for industry-led discussions as Bangladesh’s economy faces global volatility alongside domestic challenges, including stress in the banking sector and rising business costs. UIU students will have opportunities to learn directly from industry leaders through practitioner-led dialogues that complement classroom teaching with experiential learning.
Dr Iftikhar Mostafa, Senior Agriculture Economist at the World Bank, delivered the keynote address titled Innovation, Value Chains, and Public–Private Collaboration for Systemic Reform. Drawing on three decades of international experience, he highlighted the importance of developing innovation ecosystems, strengthening global value chains and promoting meaningful public-private partnerships to support systemic reform. He also shared examples of scalable solutions from Australia and Africa, illustrating how aligned incentives can contribute to sustainable and inclusive development.
The designated discussant, Professor M Omar Farooq, Head of the Department of Economics at UIU, said Bangladesh’s transition beyond least developed country status requires a broader understanding of value creation, value capture and value distribution to move further up global value chains.
He emphasised systems thinking and capacity building as essential conditions for achieving systemic reform, adding that such reform does not occur in isolation. He also stressed the need for interdisciplinary approaches in higher education, noting that many of today’s major social and economic challenges extend beyond the scope of individual academic disciplines.
Professor M Niaz Asadullah, convenor of the NEXUS Seminar Series, said Bangladesh’s traditional growth model had reached its structural limits.
“In the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) era, minimizing difficult economic trade-offs demands scalable, innovative solutions,” Asadullah said, adding that systemic reform requires the state, private markets and academia to speak a unified language.
Professor Emeritus Dr M Rezwan Khan, Executive Director of IAR and former Vice-Chancellor of UIU, and Professor Dr Salma Karim, Director of the BBA Programme at UIU, also shared their perspectives on institutionalising research-driven policy dialogue.
The programme concluded with an interactive question-and-answer session on actionable policy reforms involving heads of departments, faculty members, researchers and senior representatives from the banking and financial sectors, according to the press release.
