A four-day training on “Credit Access for Women Entrepreneurs – Train of Trainer (ToT)” concluded yesterday at Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) in the capital with an urge of building capacity of SME women entrepreneurs to improve their access to finance.
The European Union funded Bangladesh INSPIRED – component 3, which is managed by the Ministry of Industries, organised the training programme, in partnership with the BIBM and Bangladesh Bank Training Academy (BBTA), in order to get a comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the women entrepreneur segment from a banking perspective.
Around 30 women from Bangladesh Bank, SME and Special Programmes Department (SMESPD), BIBM and BBTA, and different commercial banks and women associations participated in the training programme, said a press release.
The trainees will become trainers themselves, and in turn train other women entrepreneurs in their respective institutions.
Md Abul Quasem, Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank, distributed certificates among the participants as chief guest.
Selima Ahmad, President of Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mousumi Islam, President of Association of Grassroots Women Entrepreneurs, Bangladesh, and Shamsunnahar, Chairperson of For the Women By the Women Forum, were present as special guests. Professor Dr Toufic Ahmad Choudhury, Director General of BIBM, presided over the event, while Ali Sabet, Team Leader of the INSPIRED, Component-3, and Leif Andersen, Key Banking Expert, also addressed the function.
The purpose of the training programme was to understand why the women entrepreneur segment is very important to pursue both from a country development perspective as well as for the profitability and growth of the financial institutions in Bangladesh.