About the First Non Resident Bangladeshi Conference-2007

Bangladesh , our beloved country is proud to have children who can sacrifice their lives for their mother language, defend their land, fight for democracy, seek knowledge to satisfy their thirst for conquering the unknown and strive to prevail over the whole world.

Bangladeshi Scholars reside all over the world. Research has shown that before 1973, more than 90% of our Scholars who were educated and trained in foreign countries came back to their beloved motherland; but after 1973, the rate has gradually decreased to 5-10%. The expertise our Scholars have gained is not being utilized for the development and betterment of their own motherland. On the contrary, the countries where these expatriates live are gaining by capitalizing on their knowledge and experience. Countries like India and Malaysia have already taken steps to employ their expatriate nationals.

Bangladeshi Scholars reigning all around the world love their motherland tremendously. They really want to contribute through direct or indirect participation in the development of the country. Unfortunately the opportunities and scopes are very limited. With a stable political environment, our country can encourage NRB's to contribute to their beloved motherland by offering investment opportunities, providing them with good job placements, and support them to carry on with their research and implementation work.

To find a way to create opportunities to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country, we need a platform for the NRB's where they can exercise their valuable thoughts and expert opinions pertaining to various development programs that need attention. If such an environment is not created, the country and its people will be deprived of the services of these eminent Scholars.

While creating the platform, we need to know who the Scholars are, where they reside, who are desirous to participate in the socio-economic development of the country and who are looking for opportunities to come back to their beloved motherland. With a view to assessing such prospecting Scholars a concept of creating a database of Non Resident Bangladeshi Scholars & Professionals came in the mind of Mr. M E Chowdhury, who is the Founder & President of the site www.scholarsbangladesh.com . Scholars Bangladesh has been continuing research for the last 10 years and has created a database of Non Resident Bangladeshi Scholars. Since launching, www.Scholarsbangladesh.com has been managing an office in Dhaka comprising 21 employees to maintain the database successfully that may help in creating a common platform for the NRB. For the past 10 years Mr. Chowdhury has been solely financing the site and meeting all the related expenditures.

After ten years of relentless groundwork on Bangladeshi Scholars, Scholars Bangladesh is now competent to organize a Non Resident Bangladeshi Conference every year in Bangladesh , which we believe will be the right platform and opportunity for those who have earned recognition in abroad for their achievements and are also interested in contributing towards the development of their country.

"First Non Resident Bangladeshi (NRB/PBO) Conference 2007" is scheduled to be held in December this year. Already hundreds of Non Resident Scholars have given their consent to be present at the conference and share their ideas. They are willing to make their mark; discuss on national problems, propose their expert opinions, and if opportunities are available, provide direct help in solving those problems.

The target of "First Non Resident Bangladeshi (NRB/PBO) Conference 2007" is to build a bridge between the Scholars at home and abroad. It would be a conference of national interest, where several papers on social & economic development of the country will be presented and discussed. This will definitely give scopes to many Government & Non-Government organizations to make pragmatic decisions, drill through several socio-economic problems and find out the strategic solutions with matching models suggested by the NRB experts.

NRB Conference 2007 will focus on important national interests and is huge event requires wide & spontaneous involvement from every sector to make it a grand success. Together we can change our world of tomorrow and for this purpose Scholars Bangladesh is considering to form a partnership with different professional organizations at both home and abroad that are devoted to their respective sector of the country and are continuously trying to improve the socio-economic status of their countrymen. We believe now is the time to go forward and build a better and prosperous Bangladesh .

M E Chowdhury Shameem Founder and President ScholarsBangladesh

Dilara Afroz Khan Rupa Chief Executive Officer (CEO) ScholarBangladesh