Bangladesh’s increasingly vibrant youth entrepreneurship ecosystem will be projected in the annual meeting of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB Group) beginning on Wednesday, officials confirmed to Dhaka Tribune on Tuesday.
The IsDB, a multilateral development financial institution with 57 member countries, is holding its four-day Annual Meeting for 2021 in Uzbekistan capital Tashkent with the theme – “Respond, Restore, Restart: Post-Covid Resilience and Prosperity for all.”
Among 57 member countries, Bangladesh is currently the largest beneficiary of IsDB Group.
To date IsDB and other IsDB Group entities have financed $22.52 billion to Bangladesh for a total of 469 portfolios, 386 of which have already been completed.
“The State of Ecosystem for Youth Entrepreneurship in Bangladesh” a study report by IsDB Regional Hub of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and UNDP Bangladesh will be formally launched during the annual meet, which the organizers are expecting will attract more than 2,000 participants and offer an ideal platform for decision-makers to discuss challenges and explore economic and developmental opportunities.
Fatima Yasmin, who is the first woman ever to head Bangladesh’s Economic Relations Division (ERD), under the Ministry of Finance, along with few other government officials, will represent the country in the Annual Meeting 2021.
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ERD Secretary Fatima Yasmin is also an IsDB alternate governor.
According to the IsDB ‘Country Youth Profile’ report, the Bangladesh government had established Startup Bangladesh in 2017 to turn the country into an innovation- driven nation.
It says, move is meant to create a national entrepreneurship platform to enable the country to innovate faster, create new opportunities, develop technical skills, and contribute to realize the vision of Digital Bangladesh.
Noting that the youth population in Bangladesh is 52 million, which is more than 33% of the country’s population, IsDB also finds that the youth unemployment rate was as high as 12.8% in 2017, nearly three times higher than the national rate of 4.4% unemployment.
Of the 12.8% unemployed youth, females accounted for 16.8% compared to male youths 10.8%.
It also speaks of creating an enabling environment and opportunities for about 3.2 million disabled youth in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh joined the IsDB on 12 August 1974 as one of its founding members and enacted The Islamic Development Bank Act, 1975.
Bangladesh is also a member of all the IsDB Group Entities – Islamic Cooperation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), Islamic Cooperation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) and Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI).
The first IsDB operation in Bangladesh was undertaken in March 1977.
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A release issued on Tuesday by IsDB said that Muhammad Al Jasser, the newly elected IsDB president and chairman of the IsDB Group, who started the journey this month, will chair the Tashkent meet.
The Governors to IsDB, Alternate Governors, senior government officials from the 57 IsDB member countries, and high officials from IsDB Headquarter in Jeddah and eleven Regional Hubs including Dhaka will also join in.
Over the next four days, seminars and flagship events will also feature top-level panelists from governments, international and regional organizations, the private sector, academia, and civil society.
The side events’ program, aiming to encourage discussions and debates and promote partnerships, cooperation, and knowledge sharing, will provide a platform to discuss economic, financial and development issues of current interest to IsDB Group member countries and their partners.
