IUB hosts international business conference ICEBTM 2025

The two-day International Conference on Economics, Business and Technology Management 2025 (ICEBTM 2025)—organised by the School of Business and Entrepreneurship (SBE) of Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB)—kicked off on November 14 at The Westin Dhaka.

Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, Executive Chairman of the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) and Chairman of BRAC, opened the event as the Chief Guest. He was joined by IUB Board of Trustees Chairman Didar A Husain, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr M Tamim, Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr Daniel W Lund, Acting Dean of SBE Prof. Dr Raisul Awal Mahmood, and Conference General Chair Prof. Dr Md Mamun Habib. Syed Nasim Manzur, Managing Director of Apex Footwear Limited, attended the event as the Guest of Honour.

Keynote papers were presented by Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman; Prof. Jonathan Liu of Manchester Business School, UK; and Prof. Dr Maniam Kaliannan of the University of Nottingham Malaysia. Sessions were chaired by Prof. Dr M Tamim; Prof. Dr Farid A Sobhani, Vice-Chancellor of Eastern University; and Dr Derek Westfall of Oregon State University, USA.

Industry leaders joined academia leaders in panel discussions titled "Industry Talk" and "Academia-Industry Discussion".

The academia was represented by Dr Ferdous Saleheen of Sharjah Maritime Academy, UAE; International University of Business Agriculture and Technology (IUBAT) Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr Abdur Rob; Chittagong Independent University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr M M Nurul Absar; American International University - Bangladesh (AIUB) Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr Md Abdur Rahman; and Prof. Dr Rajah Rasiah from Malaysia.

Industry leaders included Syed Nasim Manzur, Apex Footwear Managing Director; Amer Salim, Director of Knit Asia Ltd. and Aurum Sweater Ltd.; A K M Shahnawaj, Managing Director (Current Charge), Dhaka Bank PLC; Niaz Rahim, Group Director, Rahimafrooz; Dr Ahmad Ahsan, Director, Policy Research Institute; Mirza Sajeeb Rayhan, AmCham representative; Kamran T Rahman, President, MCCI; Dr Md Mosharraf Hossain from icddr,b; Dr Ben Bvepfepfe of CITL (UK); and Emeka Henry Egson (Canada).

Throughout the first day, two parallel sessions featured 80 research paper presentations by faculty, students, and scholars from local and international universities and institutions. A "PhD Colloquium and a Paper Producing Workshop" was conducted by leading international academics, who provided important tips on the PhD journey and publishing papers.

More than 300 academics, researchers, students, and industry professionals from over 12 countries, including the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, India, Poland, Thailand, and the UAE, took part in ICEBTM 2025.

The two-day conference concluded on November 15 with an award and closing ceremony at The Westin Dhaka.

Keynote papers on the second day were presented by Prof. Dr Rajah Rasiah of the University of Malaya, Malaysia, and Dr Ahmad Ahsan, Director of the Policy Research Institute. The session was chaired by Prof. Dr Abdur Rab, Vice-Chancellor of IUBAT, and Dr Ben Bvepfepfe, Leeds Trinity University & CILT, UK.

Industry and academia leaders participated in several "Industry Talk" and "Academia-Industry Discussion" sessions.

The second day also featured three parallel sessions where faculty members, researchers, and students from home and abroad presented a total of 106 research papers and 12 posters. A special session titled "Meet the Journal Editors" allowed participants to engage with editors of journals where selected conference papers will later be published.