CAB, PowerIN AI sign MoU to boost AI-driven consumer protection

CAB Secretary General Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan signed the MoU on behalf of the consumer rights body, while PowerIN AI Managing Director Nusrat Akhter for the technology firm at PowerIN AI's office in the capital on Sunday.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, CAB President AHM Shafiquzzaman said one of the biggest challenges in effective market management is the lack of reliable, real-time information.

He said the government often lacks integrated and updated data on the entire supply chain, covering production, imports, storage, transportation, and wholesale and retail levels, making it difficult to properly assess market conditions, detect potential crises early, and take timely policy interventions.

He said AI-driven, data-based analysis can make supply chain monitoring more effective, helping increase market transparency, prevent abnormal price hikes, and safeguard consumer interests.

Under the MoU, the two organisations will jointly conduct training, research, technology-based market monitoring, modernisation of the consumer complaint system, policy recommendations, and awareness activities, while working together to foster innovative use of technology, data-driven decision-making, and a culture of responsible AI use in consumer protection.

PowerIN AI Founder and CEO Tamal said the world has entered a new AI-driven era that will be at the centre of most future technological, institutional, and economic transformations, even as public knowledge and awareness of the technology remain limited and its pace of development continues to shift rapidly.

He said Bangladesh needs to ensure responsible and effective use of AI to become a data-driven state in step with these changes.

He said the MoU with CAB creates a new opportunity to jointly strengthen consumer digital capacity, support research-based policymaking, and build a technology-driven consumer protection system, expressing hope that the partnership will make Bangladesh's consumer protection framework more effectively aligned with the demands of the digital age.

CAB Organising Secretary Abul Kalam Azad and Executive Director Ahmed Ekramullah, PowerIN AI Founder and CEO Muhammad Abdul Wahed Tamal, company consultant Jahangir Alam Shovon, and other officials of the firm also attended, reports BSS.