Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry has taken an initiative to promote 2,000 new entrepreneurs selected from all the 64 districts in the country.
Any new or student entrepreneurs can take part in the scheme by submitting an online application on the DCCI web site that will start from June 15 and continue until October.
Finally, a two-day exhibition titled ‘DCCI Entrepreneurship and Innovation Expo 2013’ will be held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka in November 1-2 for the final selection of 2,000 entrepreneurs, said DCCI officials at a news conference in Dhaka on Saturday.
‘Selected and innovative entrepreneurs will be provided with funds and training without collateral if they are not able to run business with their own resources,’ M Sabur Khan, president of the DCCI, told journalists at the conference.
Sabur said the present government had made commitment in its election manifesto to create 60 lakh new entrepreneurs within five years. But in reality the government has not focused on this area, he said.
Some new entrepreneurs have been losing confidence in business as financial cheatings are taking place in the country, he said.
The DCCI president also said development partners had also given a Tk 500-crore fund to Bangladesh Bank to create new entrepreneurs in the country, which was not utilised properly.
‘The BB is providing the fund to the commercial banks under its SME (small and medium enterprises) scheme, but the fund is not fully utilised due to the banks’ unwillingness or negligence to provide loans among new entrepreneurs,’ Sabur said.
‘The DCCI has taken the initiative for the first time from private sector entity to discover some potential entrepreneurs who are not getting enough opportunity to show their business skill in the country,’ he said.
‘Innovative entrepreneurs will get all supports including money, training and logistics under the initiative,’ he said.
‘Already the DCCI has got verbal assurance from the World Bank to get financial support to provide money among new entrepreneurs for the greater economic benefit of the country,’ Sabur said, adding, ‘The BB governor and the finance minister have also assured us that they will also support our initiative.’
‘So, there will be no problem to make the project successful,’ he said.
In a power point presentation, the DCCI officials have shown procedures of application and selection process of potential entrepreneurs from 64 districts with the help of local business organisations.
The DCCI will focus on the selection process on 10 business sub-sectors like agro-based business including processing of foods, education, information technology, health, infrastructure, energy, fashion designing, branding and media, waste management and electronics.
The DCCI will invite primarily selected applicants to attend the expo in Dhaka for final selection. A total of 2,000 applicants, 200 from each sector, will be finally selected as new entrepreneurs.
The president or the prime minister of the state is expected to inaugurate the expo.
-With New Age input
