Bangladesh can become trusted aerospace partner by 2035

Dhaka : Bangladesh may not be building aircraft or launching rockets anytime soon, but the country possesses the ingredients necessary to become a respected player in the global aviation and space ecosystem.

This view was shared by Bangladesh-born aerospace professional Asad Kagozi (Head of Costing Process, Methods, Tools, and Data at Airbus Commercial) during an exclusive interview with The Bangladesh Monitor.

Kagozi's aerospace journey began long before joining Airbus. As a researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology (IPK) in Berlin, he worked on East-West aerospace industrial collaboration before spending nearly two decades with Airbus in aerospace strategy, digital technologies, industrial intelligence, and advanced engineering.

According to him, these experiences shaped his conviction that sustainable aerospace industries are built on knowledge, industrial capability, and long-term partnerships.

According to Kagozi, the future of aerospace is no longer confined to aircraft manufacturing. Instead, it encompasses a vast ecosystem of artificial intelligence, digital engineering, advanced analytics, robotics, sustainable technologies, satellite applications, cybersecurity, and data science. Countries that invest in talent, innovation, and industrial capability today will be the leaders of tomorrow.

Practical path for Bangladesh

Rather than attempting to replicate the path of established aerospace nations, Kagozi believes Bangladesh should focus on areas where it already possesses significant advantages. He identified four strategic opportunities: expanding domestic airline capability, developing Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) capabilities, securing technology transfer through industrial participation (offset) agreements, and building world-class competence in Data Science, Geospatial Analytics, and Earth Observation applications.

He emphasized that aviation and space should become strategic pillars of a long-term National Industrial Policy, rather than being developed as isolated sectors.

He noted that a large share of Bangladesh's international air travel market is currently served by foreign carriers. Supporting the expansion of local airlines would help retain valuable foreign exchange while creating jobs and strengthening the aviation ecosystem.

The MRO sector, in particular, represents one of Bangladesh's most realistic entry points into the global aerospace value chain. Initially, the country could focus on component-level maintenance, avionics support, cabin refurbishment, and engineering services before gradually expanding into more advanced capabilities.

Asad Kagozi

Kagozi further recommended that every major aircraft or advanced technology procurement should include industrial participation (offset) obligations, technology transfer, supplier development, and workforce training, ensuring that each investment leaves behind lasting industrial capability rather than only physical assets.

Not transit hub, but knowledge hub

Kagozi does not believe Bangladesh will become another Dubai or Singapore in terms of passenger transit. However, he sees enormous potential for the country to emerge as a specialized aviation engineering, maintenance, cargo, and technology hub.

To achieve this, he recommended investment in aviation training academies, internationally recognized certification programs, tax-friendly MRO zones, cargo infrastructure, and long-term policy stability. Bangladesh's competitive advantage, he argued, lies not in geography but in its large pool of talented young people, relatively competitive operating costs and the opportunity to develop internationally recognized engineering capability.

Technology to drive next aviation revolution

Modern airports are increasingly becoming data-driven ecosystems. Artificial Intelli-gence, digital twins, predictive maintenance, biometric processing, and intelligent passenger-flow management are transforming airport operations worldwide.

Kagozi believes Bangla-desh's new airport infrastructure, including the Third Terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, should be supported by advanced digital systems. Investments in integrated operations centers, cybersecurity, passenger analytics, digital identity solutions, and real-time data-sharing platforms will be essential to creating world-class passenger experiences.

According to Kagozi, future airports should be viewed not simply as transport infrastructure, but as intelligent digital ecosystems that continuously optimize safety, operational efficiency and passenger experience.

Space technology without building satellites

Perhaps Kagozi's most intriguing proposition concerns Bangladesh's participation in the growing (USD 1.8 trillion) global space economy.

He argued that entering the space economy must not be confused with the capital-heavy, high-risk trap of manufacturing or owning physical hardware in orbit. Instead, Bangladesh's strategy must be 100 percent asset-light (suitable to the nation's need and financial affordability) - purchasing raw telemetry and communication bandwidth from global mega-constellations via open APIs and mastering the downstream software analytics layer at home.

By running advanced machine learning over imported feeds, local engineers can build specialized capabilities to solve urgent domestic challenges - such as mapping cyclonic storm surges (e.g. 72 hours in advance), predicting agricultural pest invasions (e.g. three weeks early), tracking illegal maritime activity in the Bay of Bengal, climate resilience, education, healthcare, commuter traffic, communication, and so on.

The real opportunity lies in building expertise in geospatial analytics, artificial intelligence, and Earth observation applications. By processing and interpreting satellite data, Bangladeshi engineers could create valuable domestic solutions while developing exportable software and analytics services for the international aerospace market.

Investing in people: "Triple-Helix" Framework

For Kagozi, human capital remains the foundation of every successful aerospace industry. With global demand for pilots, engineers, technicians, data scientists, and aviation professionals (more than two million) expected to rise sharply over the next two decades, Bangladesh has a unique opportunity to position itself as a supplier of highly skilled talent.

To capture this historic opportunity, Kagozi urged an aggressive, industry-integrated "Triple-Helix Operational Model" that firmly binds Government executive power, Academic research, and Industrial capacity into a unified National Strategy.

He continued arguing the immense importance of stronger collaboration among involved parties and creating a permanent Government-Academia-Industry collaboration platform, arguing that universities should not only prepare students for employment but also help create entirely new industries through innovation, entrepreneurship and research.

Vision for 2035

Looking ahead, Kagozi envisions Bangladesh evolving from a technology consumer into a trusted regional partner in aviation engineering, MRO services, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, geospatial analytics, and space-enabled digital services. Rather than competing in capital-intensive hardware, he believes Bangladesh should build internationally respected capabilities in engineering, software, data science and systems integration.

"By 2035, I hope Bangladesh will no longer be asking how to build an aircraft or launch a satellite. Instead, the world will recognize Bangladesh as a nation that develops outstanding engineers, delivers trusted industrial solutions, and transforms technology into economic value and national resilience."

According to Kagozi, national success should not be measured by the number of aircraft assembled or satellites launched, but by the strength of institutions, the competitiveness of local industries, the capability of the engineering workforce and the confidence Bangladesh earns from global partners.