The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited in Bangladesh in partnership with Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka recently organised the finale and award giving ceremony of the "Business Case Competition 2022".
Three teams from Bangladesh were selected as the Champion, Runners-up and Second Runner-up winners from a group of five finalist teams. This year, the local competition featured a total of 160 participants from universities all across Bangladesh, said a statement.
The qualifying teams consisted of university students from the leading universities of Bangladesh. The finalist teams received a business case on a startup based on Digital Marketing and a few short hours later presented their solutions and recommendations to a panel of judges.
Md.Tofazzel Hossain Miah, Senior Secretary, Prime Minister's Office, was present as the Chief Guest and Faruque Hassan, President, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BGMEA), graced the event as a Special Guest.
Md Mahbub ur Rahman, Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Bangladesh and Prof. Mohammad A. Momen, Director, Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka also spoke at the programme.
During the event, Md.Tofazzel Hossain Miah said, "Bangladesh's industries have been making considerable strides in adapting to modern innovation and technology. The business case that the students have presented on today had themes such as digitization and e-commerce in the apparel industry - themes that are very much relevant for Bangladesh as we graduate from an LDC country. Thanks to HSBC and IBA, University of Dhaka for arranging such a competition that will give the participants an opportunity to represent Bangladesh at an international level."
Commenting on the programme, Md Mahbub ur Rahman said, "With Bangladesh's younger population at an all-time high, it is now more crucial than ever to provide platforms that will help transform these young minds into future leaders. HSBC aims to support and encourage future skills which foster the future employability in view of the changing operating environment. This initiative hopefully will play a pivotal role in facilitating future skills for todays' youth in Bangladesh."
Prof. Mohammad A. Momen added, "As the world recovers from the after effects of one of the worst pandemics in history, the dynamic world of business is in need of leaders who are innovative, agile and adaptive. This collaboration between HSBC and IBA has been providing many students with a scope to learn and test these skills and showcase their talent over the years."
The judging panel included Dan Pasha, Head of Trade and Investment British High Commission Dhaka;Asif Ashraf, Managing Director, Urmi Group;Sami Ahmed, Managing Director, Startup Bangladesh Limited and Mahir Ahmed, Director, Apex Holdings Ltd.
This initiative is part of HSBC's flagship Future Skills activity in Asia Pacific, and aims to enhance university students' business skills and broaden their global perspectives by taking their education out of the classroom and into a live competition format.
The Champion, Runners-up and Second Runner-up winners received team development fund of BDT 200,000; BDT 100,000 and BDT 50,000 respectively.
In addition to Bangladesh, the following HSBC markets in the Asia Pacific region are also conducting local business case competitions: Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Mainland China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Mauritius. Winning team from Bangladesh will participate in the regional finale to be hosted in Hong Kong, where participants from countries will participate.