Kickoff Workshop of the “Capacity Building Training for Anondomela Platform Users in Bangladesh”

Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI) with the support of the United nations Development Programme (UNDP)- Bangladesh organized the “Kickoff Workshop” of the Capacity Building Training for Anondomela Platform Users in Bangladesh”  on 21st November 2021 at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC), Agargaon, Sher-e-Banglanagar, Dhaka.  The workshop was chaired by Ms. Selima Ahmad MP- President-BWCCI. Mr. M A Mannan MP, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Planning, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh was the Chief Guest and Mr. Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP, Honorable State Minister, Information Communication Technology Division, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh attended the workshop as the Special Guest. The program was successfully held with the delightful online presence of Mr. Sudipto Mukherjee, Country Representative UNDP-Bangladesh through Zoom Platform.  Among other distinguished participants, Dr. Nazneen Ahmed, Country Economist, UNDP, senior officials of UNDP, The Anaondomela Platform Users, the divisional leaders and Board Directors of BWCCI attended the workshop.

Mr. M A Mannan MP- Honorable Planning Minister, in his speech as the Chief Guest said that the Government of Bangladesh has undertaken different affirmative actions for the development of women and women entrepreneurs as well. He commented that the women entrepreneurs are now involved in diversified businesses with many innovative ideas. He stated that in the COVID pandemic situation women entrepreneurs are facing lots of challenges, so he said “This is the time to change and this is the time for online business, jointly we can achieve many things. Capacity building training can help develop the skills of women entrepreneurs”. Finally he inaugurated the workshop saying that Bangladesh will be a dignified country in the world very soon.   

Mr. Zunaid Ahmed Palak, Honorable State Minister, Information and Communication Technology Division (ICT) Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh as the Special Guest thanking all for inviting him to the occasion said that Bangladesh has made lots of changes in the last 12 years, improvement in digital economy and online business is one of the best examples. Access to Internet has already been expanded up to the remote areas of the country. Union Digital Centre is actively working. 4G network is available everywhere. The people of all sectors are getting the benefit of the website of digitalhat.net especially it has been very successful in the last Kurbani Eid (Eid ul Azha). Now the capacity of the women entrepreneurs need to be developed further. Unique Business Identity should be ensured. The government has taken series of initiatives already like (i) Creation of interoperable digital platform, (ii) Development of Central Complain Management Software, (iii) Central Logistic Tracking Platform and (iv) Paperless Office Management system are under process. He hoped that by January 2022, there will be a significant change in this sector. Women entrepreneurs will get space in Hi Teck Parks to establish business incubation centres. In addition, successful women entrepreneurs can also avail one time grant of Taka 50,000/-. Master trainer pool will be formed to train the startups. He also shared that government has many other projects including “She Power”. The women entrepreneurs can also avail this facilities. He also informed the house that linkages with Paypal, Amazon etc.  is under process. Finally he hoped that the country will move forward with the joint initiatives of women entrepreneurs.

Mr. Sudipto Kumar Mukherjee, Country Representative, UNDP Bangladesh in his speech delivered virtually said that Anondomela Platform is formed in the COVID-19 pandemic situation with its own fund. But this is a good start to cover more areas after successful completion of the pilot phase. He said graduation of BWCCI from LDC status to middle income country is under process, so women empowerment is a must for this. He also gave importance on digital equality besides the economic equality. 

Dr. Nazneen Ahmed, Country Economist- UNDP said that through the Anandomela platform UNDP wants to set an example. UNDP supports the government initiatives. She hoped that Anondomela platform will be like Joyeeta in online platform. So she requested to include the underprivileged people for sustainable development in this sector.

Ms. Selima Ahmad MP and President- BWCCI as the Chairperson of the workshop said that the Government of Bangladesh is very much women friendly. Thanking UNDP Country Representative, the Chief Guest and the Special Guest as well as the participants she said that BWCCI will continue its efforts for the development of women entrepreneurs where the support of the Government and UNDP is needed. There was a short question and answer session in the workshop where the women entrepreneurs participated. The opening session was moderated by Ms. Selima Ahmad and Ms. Ridma Khan- Director-BWCCI. Around 100 participants including the representative of Bangladesh Bank, concerned organizations, trainer and trainees of the project, UNDP officials, board directors, divisional representatives, members and staff of BWCCI attended the programmes. Finally the workshop was concluded with the vote of thanks from Ms Sabina Alam- Director- BWCCI. It is to be noted that two online and offline trainings were held at the same venue after completion of the Kickoff Workshop.

Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *