Thrust on better access of woman SMEs to finance
Thursday, 6 November 2008
FE Report
Speakers at a roundtable in the city Tuesday stressed the need for better access of women SMEs (small and medium entrepreneurs) to finance to create more job opportunities at the grassroots level and thus reduce poverty in the society.
At the same time, the meeting underscored the need for development of skills and proper training of women workforce as well as assuring bigger market access of their products
Organised by Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI), the roundtable was attended by a group of eminent women entrepreneurs and was aimed at identifying areas of cooperation for development of women entrepreneurship between Bangladesh and Norway.
"Although the empowerment of women in both Bangladesh and Norway has come a long way, still challenges exist and there are issues to be addressed in both countries," Norway's Ambassador in Bangladesh Ingebjorg Stofring, who attended the roundtable as the special guest, said.
"The fact that 80 per cent of the workforce in Bangladesh's garments factories are women testifies how much an important role women are able to play in the country's economy," she observed.
Echoing the need for confidence and awareness-building among women at individual level, former adviser to the caretaker government Geeteara Safiya Chowdhury said it is time for women to move away from some certain stereotypical business and to come forward to bigger and versatile sectors.
"Usually when we talk about woman entrepreneurship, we think of fashion, handicrafts, boutique and so on. But the case is women can lead almost any sort of ventures," she said.
Lauding the achievement of Norway for championing the woman empowerment, BEI President Farooq Sobhan said that the Scandinavian country could be a role model for Bangladesh in ensuring gender equality in all facades of the society.
"With a view to facilitating woman entrepreneurship, the SME Foundation would like to pursue the cause forcefully in the near future for greater access of woman SMEs to finance," he said.
Speakers at a roundtable in the city Tuesday stressed the need for better access of women SMEs (small and medium entrepreneurs) to finance to create more job opportunities at the grassroots level and thus reduce poverty in the society.
At the same time, the meeting underscored the need for development of skills and proper training of women workforce as well as assuring bigger market access of their products
Organised by Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI), the roundtable was attended by a group of eminent women entrepreneurs and was aimed at identifying areas of cooperation for development of women entrepreneurship between Bangladesh and Norway.
"Although the empowerment of women in both Bangladesh and Norway has come a long way, still challenges exist and there are issues to be addressed in both countries," Norway's Ambassador in Bangladesh Ingebjorg Stofring, who attended the roundtable as the special guest, said.
"The fact that 80 per cent of the workforce in Bangladesh's garments factories are women testifies how much an important role women are able to play in the country's economy," she observed.
Echoing the need for confidence and awareness-building among women at individual level, former adviser to the caretaker government Geeteara Safiya Chowdhury said it is time for women to move away from some certain stereotypical business and to come forward to bigger and versatile sectors.
"Usually when we talk about woman entrepreneurship, we think of fashion, handicrafts, boutique and so on. But the case is women can lead almost any sort of ventures," she said.
Lauding the achievement of Norway for championing the woman empowerment, BEI President Farooq Sobhan said that the Scandinavian country could be a role model for Bangladesh in ensuring gender equality in all facades of the society.
"With a view to facilitating woman entrepreneurship, the SME Foundation would like to pursue the cause forcefully in the near future for greater access of woman SMEs to finance," he said.