On November 4, 2008, the United States of America embraced ‘change’ by electing Barrack Obama as the 44th President of America and while I was waiting for the bus in the morning after the election, there were two African American women having a conversation about Obama’s victory. Both had the positive view that his presidency [...]

A year ago, a 43-year-old homemaker from Mumbai started writing about her everyday life, and whatever touched it. Nothing extraordinary about it, except that her ‘diary’ was-online, or was what is popularly known as a blog. She called herself Indian Home Maker (IHM), and her blog, The Life and Times of an Indian Homemaker, because [...]

Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) organised a get-together for the women entrepreneur clients of the bank in the city recently on the occasion of the Bangla New Year 1416. Arranged by the Women Entrepreneur Cell under SME Banking of EBL, the gathering was addressed by Managing Director and CEO of the bank Ali Reza Iftekhar. Later [...]

Move into the countryside in the hills and it’s common to see women washing clothes by narrow streams gushing alongside the roads. The song of trickling water is the continuous magical music of the Kangra Valley in Himachal Pradesh, which is crisscrossed by thousands of irrigation canals. Locally known as the ‘kuhls’, these canals bring [...]

IT is difficult to accept why the banks and financial institutions do not provide loans carrying low rates of interest to women entrepreneurs who run small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Neither the banks nor the financial institutions are following the policy of the central bank in this regard. A Tk 500 crore SME fund was [...]

Micro-credit makes women of Monipuri community self-dependent Monipuri is the name of an ethnic community and it belongs to a patrilineal society. This community is usually found in many thanas of Moulavibazar district. The main occupation of the members of the community is agriculture, especially vegetable production and weaving. But weaving is totally domestic oriented. [...]

Experts urged for creating an effective women friendly atmosphere in the field of trade and commerce through preparing Woman National Business Agenda with proper solution to overall problems of the women entrepreneurs in transacting business. The call came from a divisional stakeholders consultation workshop arranged by Bangladesh Woman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI) at [...]

Sabina Begum wakes early in the morning and walks instinctively to a tiny room next to her home. She unbolts the factory; double-checks machinery and raw materials and takes a deep breath to begin a new day. She prepares for the manufacturing process that will include choosing the fabric, matching sewing thread colours, setting designs [...]

The prize giving ceremony of the Citi Micro-entrepreneurship Awards (CMA) was held at the Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Centre on November 20, 2008. The chief guest of the awards ceremony Dr. A.B. Mirza Md. Azizul Islam, Adviser, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Planning, presented the awards. Also presiding over the ceremony were Dr. Wahiduddin [...]

Speakers at a roundtable in the city Tuesday stressed the need for better access of women SMEs (small and medium entrepreneurs) to finance to create more job opportunities at the grassroots level and thus reduce poverty in the society. At the same time, the meeting underscored the need for development of skills and proper training [...]

When two entrepreneurs examined the limited transportation options available to people living in U.S. cities, they not only saw a business opportunity, but also imagined a way to help the environment. Together they founded Zipcar Inc., the world’s largest car-sharing business. Halfway around the world in Morocco, another entrepreneur saw an opening in the marketplace [...]

In order to facilitate increased participation in the economy by women entrepreneurs, Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI), in association with The Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), formed a national committee for developing the first women’s national business agenda at a city hotel Saturday. The national committee is comprised of 35 members [...]

Nearly 500,000 people – mostly women – can put more food on the table, educate their children, and even save enough to lease or buy agricultural land, thanks to an innovative livestock project in Bangladesh. About half the country’s population, roughly 65 million people, live below the poverty line. Poverty is more common in rural [...]

A two-day training programme on ‘PC and Internet for Women Entrepreneurs’ was held at the Knowledge Centre organised by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) under its Women Entrepreneurs and Export Development (WEED) Standing Committee (SIC). The objectives of the programme was to provide first hand knowledge on PC and Internet to small [...]