“Structural loopholes in stimulus packages often act as deterrents for SMEs and young entrepreneurs who want to start their own business” speakers observed at a webinar on Sunday urging upon the government to remove the barriers in accessing finance and investment to support young entrepreneurs and ensure the long-term sustainability of SMEs.
SANEM and ActionAid Bangladesh jointly hosted the webinar on "National Budget 2021-22 from Youth Perspective" with an objective to provide insights into the challenges facing the youth amidst the ongoing pandemic.
The webinar was chaired by Farah Kabir, Country Director, ActionAid Bangladesh and moderated by Dr Sayema Haque Bidisha, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Dhaka and Research Director of SANEM.
Eshrat Sharmin, Senior Research Associate, SANEM, delivered the keynote presentation during the webinar. Among the panellists were present Md. Hasanul Islam NDC, Additional Secretary (Admin & Finance), Secondary and Higher Education Division; Mohammad Ismail, Additional Secretary (Program and Assessment), Ministry of Social Welfare; Dr Nashid Rizwana Monir, Deputy Secretary (Research and Policy), Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment; Sabina Yeasmin, Senior Assistant Secretary (Budget), Technical and Madrasah Education Division; and Farzeen Ferdous Alam, Chairman, Oggro Ventures. Nahim Razzaq, Member of Bangladesh Parliament and notable youth development advocate, graced the webinar as the Chief Guest.
Dr Selim Raihan, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Dhaka and Executive Director, SANEM, also shared his remarks during the discussion.
At the beginning of the webinar, Dr Sayema Haque Bidisha highlighted that the second national budget announced during the COVID-19 pandemic will play an extremely crucial role to acknowledge the current reality faced by the youth of the country.
In this context, she mentioned that the youth have been affected by the ongoing pandemic through two main channels, namely education and employment.
In her keynote presentation, Eshrat Sharmin noted that Bangladesh is currently enjoying a window of opportunity during which utilizing the potential of the youth will result in enhanced economic prosperity.
However, we are almost at the midway of the dividend period which will close around 2040. In addition, the pandemic has created several obstacles for the youth and might ultimately contribute to rising youth unemployment, proportion of youth in NEET, social crimes, early marriages and so on.
After the presentation, Farah Kabir urged the government to focus on the youth and use their potential as a means of driving economic prosperity within the country.
Farah Kabir also stressed on the importance of facilitating data collection and sharing between research organizations and policymakers to identify the worst-affected groups of the population and extend support to lift them out of their socioeconomic miseries.
Md. Hasanul Islam NDC, Additional Secretary (Admin & Finance), Secondary and Higher Education Division, stated that the education sector has been the most affected by the pandemic, leading to further social issues such as declining mental health amongst students - which has led to the government carrying out initiatives such as appointing psychologists.
Dr Nashid Rizwana Monir, Deputy Secretary (Research and Policy), Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment states that there is a large proportion of the population that has returned from abroad due to pandemic related health and employment reasons.
Dr Selim Raihan states in his discussion that two issues are very important. Firstly, to understand what is included in the budget for the youth. The one issue that is agreed upon is that the budget allocation for the youth is severely inadequate.
Nahim Razzaq, MP, Chief Guest of the webinar, reiterated the concerns of the research team and panelists regarding the gaps in policies to address the challenges facing the young population of the country.
According to Nahim Razzaq, structural loopholes in stimulus packages often act as deterrents for SMEs and young entrepreneurs who want to start their own business.
In order to support young entrepreneurs and ensure the long-term sustainability of SMEs, he urged the government to remove the barriers in accessing finance and investment.
