A daylong conference on financial inclusion will be held on February 16 to discuss and understand solutions to prevalent challenges, business opportunities and growth potential of financial inclusion in Bangladesh.
University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), in partnership with bKash, is organising the event - 'The 2019 Financial Inclusion Summit' - at Lakeshore Hotel in city.
Minister for Planning, Government of Bangladesh MA Mannan is expected to attend as chief guest.
Special Adviser to the board of trustee of ULAB Professor Imran Rahman and CEO of bKash Kamal S Quadir will also speak at the event.
The event will provide partnership opportunities to different stakeholders - government, development agencies, banking sector and academia, in Bangladesh and other countries.
The event will be attended by more than 100 participants from academia, banks, corporates, donor organisations, government organisations, NGO and INGO representatives, consultants and media persons.
A total of three sessions will take place after the inauguration session, said the organisers.
Among others, The Financial Express will be the media partner of the event.
Sajid Amit, Associate Professor and Director of Centre for Enterprise and Society (CES) and EMBA programme of ULAB told The Financial Express financial inclusion of people in a developing country not only reduces poverty but also unlocks a huge revenue potential and enables sustainable growth.
He said financial inclusion is one of the strategic instruments for Bangladesh government for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including Bangladesh's Seventh Five Year Plan's goals.
He said this summit aims to underscore importance of financial inclusion.
He said the university wants to help policymakers become more visible through these initiatives. Both financial institutions and development sector organisations are working on perfecting the way to market to the last mile customers.
"We value the partnerships among all stakeholders and hope that regulators will work more closely with innovators in helping the industry flourish," he added.
Bangladesh financial ecosystem is not given its due credit in many areas, he said.
Citing example, Mr Amit said this sector still attracts top graduates, good leaders and lot of managerial talents.
He laid emphasis on the need for improving the corporate governance of brokerage firms. Financial literacy should be a top priority and a core agenda for capital market organisations.
Capital market organisations should encourage IPOs of good companies, he added.
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