Speakers at a discussion meeting on Tuesday observed that adopting a global definition can allow Women entrepreneurs (WEs) to be integrated with the international business and exploit the benefits of policies announced by the government.
The mentioned that despite the contribution of women entrepreneurs to the economy, today, they are deprived of fair opportunities and scope. The observations were made in a virtual discussion programme,
Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) and International Trade Centre (ITC)–SheTrades Programme, in collaboration with Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) organised the meeting.
They decided to work together in order to develop and adopt the globally recognised ISO standard definition of Women Entrepreneurship (ISO IWA 34:2021) in Bangladesh.
The meeting agreed-upon definition of women-owned and women-led businesses in the country — different institutions are using multiple terminologies.
Along with Selima Ahmad MP and BWCCI President, Representatives of the Ministry of Industries, several Chamber Presidents, and women entrepreneurs joined the virtual programme to share their views on the subject issue.
Selima Ahmad MP informed that the Bangladesh Bank and the Ministry of Industries had provided definitions of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh.
We need to consider the term women-owned business and the percentage of ownership while setting up the definition.
She assured to provide every possible support from the end of Parliament to formulate a globally recognised and harmonised definition of WEs.
In the keynote presentation, Ferdaus Ara Begum, CEO of BUILD, mentioned that despite the contribution of women entrepreneurs to the economy, today, they are deprived of fair opportunities and scope.
One of the main reasons for this is the lack of gender-disaggregated data in our country.
Adopting a global definition can allow Women entrepreneurs (WEs) to be integrated with the international business and exploit the benefits of policies announced by the government.
She highlighted the importance of adopting the ISO standard global definition. She illuminated that collecting sex-disaggregated data at the national level could help evidence-based policymaking and international comparison.
