Dhaka - SME Foundation Consultation, Dhaka 3 Abbreviations BDS Business Development Services BRAC Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee CHOGM Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

National Consultation,

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© Commonwealth Youth Programme, Asia Centre, 2011

Chandigarh – 160012, India

Tel: + 91 172 2744463/82

Fax: + 91 172 2745426

Email: [email protected]

All rights reserved.

Websites: www.thecommonwealth.org/cypasia


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. BACKGROUND 4

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6

- Inauguration ceremony 9

3. SUMMARY OF DISCUSSIONS

- Youth unemployment: Global scenario 10

- The Bangladesh policy context 11

- Role of NGOs, corporate sector and other agencies 15

- Role of Financial and other public sector institutions 16

- Role of Entrepreneurship Education 17

i. Emphasis on skill development 18

ii. Sectoral opportunities in Bangladesh 20

- Recommendations 21

- Conclusions 24

4. ANNEXES

- List of participants 25

- Concept / Background note 28

- Programme Agenda 31


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Abbreviations BDS Business Development Services

BRAC Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee

CHOGM Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

CYCI Commonwealth Youth Credit Initiative

CYP Commonwealth Youth Programme

DYD Department of Youth Development

FCA Financial Corporate Accountant

GDP Gross Domestic Product

HRD Human Resource Development

ICT Information and communication technology

ILO International Labour Organization

ISC Industrial Skills Council

M&E Monitoring and Evaluation

MFI Microfinance Institution

MOYS Ministry of Youth & Sports

NAP National Action Plan

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

NYP National Youth Policy

PKSF Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation

PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

RB-NRB Resident and Non Resident Bangladeshi

R&D Research and Development

SME Small and Medium Enterprise

SMEF Small and Medium Enterprise Foundation

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization

VET Vocational Education and Training

YEN Youth Employment Network

YED Youth Enterprise Development

YTC Youth Skill Training Centre


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Background

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at Port of Spain, Trinidad and

Tobago in November, 2009 through a historic statement entitled Declaration on Young People:

“Investing in Young People” affirmed as follows:

We note with concern that unemployment affects young people more than any other

social group.

We seek to enhance the Commonwealth Youth Credit Initiative (CYCI), by turning it into

an integrated and holistic enterprise development programme built around

comprehensive and mutually reinforcing skills development, funding, and mentorship

for youth in partnership with civil society and business.

We pledge to engage a considerably wider range of funders and partners, including our

own Ministries of Youth, international finance institutions, regional organisations,

banks, and businesses to devise projects to promote youth enterprise.

It further recognised the importance of access to finance and called for the development of

domestic financial markets with specific emphasis on micro-finance and micro-credit in support

of poverty alleviation and economic democratisation programmes, particularly for marginalised

groups including youth and women. It also emphasised the need for comprehensive skills

development in promoting the environment for investment. Of the 49 countries that attended

the Meeting, 34 were represented by their Heads of State or the Government.

In response to the above declaration, the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) organized

four Regional Conferences which fed into the Pan Commonwealth Conference hosted by the

Commonwealth Secretariat, London. With a cross section of stakeholders that included ILO,

World Bank, UNESCO, UNIDO, other international agencies, financial Institutions, policy makers

from various ministries, chambers of commerce and the corporate sector, Regional Youth

Caucus members, youth organizations and youth networks, experts and academics, members

from civil society organisations and NGOs, these conferences aimed at discussing global and

regional trends and issues in youth entrepreneurship/enterprise development, sharing good

practices, identifying challenges and providing strategic directions on broader youth

employment related policies and programmes.

One of the outcomes of the regional conferences was the proposal for organizing national

level consultations to discuss and devise strategies to address youth unemployment with a

focus on youth enterprise in an integrated way through interventions (at the national level).

Key objectives were reviewing existing policies and programmes, advocating the creation of a


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national level platform and forging partnerships for implementing effective and innovative

youth entrepreneurship strategies and programmes.

In pursuance of the above, a national level consultation on investing in youth employment with

a focus on youth enterprise and entrepreneurship development was organized in Dhaka,

Bangladesh by the CYP Asia Centre in partnership with the Ministry of Youth & Sports,

Government of Bangladesh, the SME Foundation, Dhaka and sponsored by the AB Bank,

Bangladesh from June 7 to June 9, 2011. The consultation had a clear focus of bringing out

workable recommendations with an emphasis on a strong strategic coalition to accelerate

youth enterprise and entrepreneurship in the country.

Further, financial regulations / guidelines with a youth friendly focus and collateral free loans

for marginalized young people, under the ambit of a national financial inclusion policy, and the

critical role of financial institutions and banks were advocated as a key strategy together with

the understanding that under the National Youth Policy (NYP), a National Action Plan (NAP)

should be formulated comprising a well laid out monitoring and evaluation framework.

While the National Youth Policy of Bangladesh contains provisions, which lay emphasis on self-

employment by means of technical education in order to prevent the exodus of rural youth to

urban areas of the country, the Government’s policy of offering skill development and self

employment training programmes, however, has time and again faced criticism for being

neither ‘need based,’ nor ‘updated’ on a regular basis. As a result, there has not been much

success in enabling or generating a high rate of self-employment in Bangladesh.

Given this scenario, the consultation succeeded in giving a call for action with regard to

accelerating youth enterprise and self employment promotion, for stimulating a policy debate

on this urgent matter in light of the dismal youth unemployment rate in the country, and for

measures to remove the obstacles that stand in the way.

Based on the discussion at the consultation, this report is an attempt to present the key

deliberations and major recommendations and strategies discussed to accelerate youth

enterprise and entrepreneurship in Bangladesh.


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Executive Summary

Bangladesh has been successful in achieving significant poverty reduction since the 1990’s and

is presently considered to be one of the fastest emerging economies in the world. In keeping

with its progress in reducing income poverty, Bangladesh has also seen rapid gains in a number

of key education and health outcomes. Future gains in reducing poverty will require

productivity growth in agriculture and job creation in the industrial and services sectors.*

(World Bank 2008)

Youth population in Bangladesh is presently 50 million -an estimated 32.7% of the total

population of which 80% live in rural areas. Only 15 million are currently employed, 23 million

are partially or under-employed and the rest 12 million are fully unemployed. In 2020 the youth

population is expected to reach upwards of 60 million. Creating gainful employment for the

youth in Bangladesh is therefore high on the nation building agenda.

Recognizing the fact that a disciplined, organized, trained and educated youth community can

make significant contribution to the development process, the government has taken up

various measures for reducing unemployment and to shape its socio-economic uplift. One of

the key national targets under Bangladesh’s Vision 2021 is to reduce youth unemployment

rate by 15%. Growth of SMEs is considered as a driving force to achieve this. In the light of this,

self-employment and enterprise development is being considered as an important strategy in

national youth development efforts, and Bangladesh is increasingly seeking to orient youth to

explore the enterprise option.

In this context, a three day national consultation on investing in youth was held to encourage

technical discussions with a view to reviewing existing policies and devise strategies/guidelines

to promote youth enterprise in an integrated manner. In addition, the consultation also

highlighted CYP’s efforts at improving employment generation in Bangladesh through

promoting entrepreneurial skill development, an enabling culture and accelerating self

employment among young people.

In essence, it summed up the Bangladesh government’s focus that states, ‘Youth employment

generation with a focus on youth enterprise is a must to make the country a middle income

one by 2021’.


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Against this backdrop, the participants in the national consultation unanimously underscored

the following action areas:

Bridging the policy gaps:

National Youth Policy (NYP) needs to be demand driven along with a well crafted

strategy and time bound action plan with adequate resource allocation.

NYP to be more clearly connected to broader national policy frame work including Five

Year Plan, PRSP, National education policy, industrial policy, SME policy etc.

NYP to be reviewed and revised from time to time

Policy review of all relevant ministries to ensure convergence

Regular Policy audit/monitoring of implementations

Mainstreaming youth issues in all policies of public and private sector initiatives

Strengthening Institutional mechanism:

MOYS & DYD’s role needs to be more clearly defined – more active and effective role

envisaged

MOYS & DYD to play a pivotal role in creating a national level platform with all relevant

stakeholders

Private sector should be actively involved in the government’s effort to address the

problem of youth unemployment in the country.

Creation of a National Youth Council to ensure youth participation in policy dialogue,

and monitoring and evaluation of youth development programmes

SME Foundation to play an effective role in SME Youth entrepreneurs and enterprises

development

Actionable strategies:

MOYS – should undertake policy review, revision, monitoring and coordination; review

of existing training programmes: content, methodology etc.

National strategy and action plan on promoting youth entrepreneurship and enterprise

development under the broader National Entrepreneurship and Enterprise

Development Program.

Other relevant government ministries/depts. - policy audit and alignment with NYP.


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Banking institutions - Bangladesh Bank to craft youth friendly financial inclusion policy,

youth credit initiatives while commercial banks to recognize youth as a bankable client

segment and undertake youth credit initiatives.

NGO's- to raise youth voice in policy debate and capacity building of youth

entrepreneurs.

SMEF -to facilitate and bring together the public and private sector stakeholders on

youth issues; provide business development and incubation services as well as capacity

building; encourage youth entrepreneurs through activities like business plan

competition etc

Target youth with focus on vulnerability:

Skill training based on skill demand of local industries and overseas job market

Life skills and entrepreneurship education in the educational curriculum at the primary

level

One -stop service centre at the sub district level for youth entrepreneurs

Critical role in steering forward:

MOYS and DYD with regard to the public sector

Bangladesh Bank and financial institutions

Employers' association, Chambers in private sector

Academic and training institutions

SME Foundation

Youth organizations, and

BRAC, PKSF and other national level NGO's and CSOs


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Inauguration ceremony

Honourable Minister, Ministry of Industries, Mr. Dilip Barua was the chief guest at the inaugural

ceremony of the three-day National Consultation in Bangladesh. Mr. Md. Ahad Ali Sarkar, MP,

State Minister, Ministry of Youth & Sports, Mr. Aftab ul Islam, FCA, Chairperson, SME

Foundation and Mr. Rajkumar Bidla from the Pan Commonwealth Office of CYP, London attended

as special guests while Mr. Mahbub Ahmed, Secretary, Ministry of Youth & Sports presided

over the inaugural session. Joint Secretary, Mr. Gazi Mizanur Rahman of MOYS, Mr. Aminul

Islam Khan, CYP Asia Centre and Dr.Nurul Quadir of SME Foundation also attended the

programme among others.

The ceremony was attended by representatives from various ministries & departments

including Ministry of Youth & Sports, Education, Labour & Employment, Social Welfare,

Industries, Micro Credit Regulatory Authority (under the Ministry of Finance) as well as the SME

Foundation of Bangladesh, public and private sector banks, chambers of commerce, corporate

sector, training institutions, international organizations including the ILO, and the UN. Leading

NGOs, youth organizations, the media as well as young women entrepreneurs including the

three who were honoured with the National SME Women Entrepreneurship Award for 2010,

were also present at the inaugural ceremony.

Opening remarks

Mr. Dilip Barua underscored the need for creating skilled young entrepreneurs and

government’s priority to create an entrepreneurship friendly culture in Bangladesh. He urged

the affluent sections of the society and the corporate sector to create and cultivate role model

entrepreneurs and to come forward to supplement the government’s efforts in this regard. He

further suggested that the government’s financial inclusion policy would focus on youth

entrepreneurs, and collateral-free loans to be increased from its present limit of 2.5 million ($

35,000) to a higher slab in the future. The Minister assured that he would provide all kinds of

support for promoting youth enterprise in Bangladesh.

Mr. Md. Ahad Ali Sarkar, State Minister of Youth and Sports reiterated his commitment to work

whole heartedly for youth development in general, and youth enterprise in particular, in

Bangladesh. He assured that he would certainly look into the suggestions and outcomes of the

consultation.

In highlighting the need to attract young people towards entrepreneurship, Mr. Aftab ul Islam,

FCA, Chairperson, SME Foundation agreed upon setting up a dedicated help line desk for


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young entrepreneurs and also directed the SME Foundation to include an enterprise

programme for young entrepreneurs in the next year’s work plan. He also spoke about the

necessity of reducing interest rates on bank loans for increasing the number of entrepreneurs

in the industrial sectors. He emphasised on the need to review the existing policies and

strategies and called for developing an integrated and comprehensive approach.

With regard to tackling youth unemployment, Mr. Mahbub Ahmed suggested optimum

utilization of the large number of disguised labourers, presently engaged in agriculture and

industrial sectors and also in the informal sector. He also emphasised on the need for designing

local and overseas demand driven training curriculum for the youth. He agreed that an effective

and integrated coordination mechanism between the private and public sector is needed to

address youth unemployment in the country.

Highlighting CYP’s conviction that youth enterprise is one of the most viable options for both

employment creations as well as for the stimulation of economic growth in the Commonwealth,

Mr. Rajkumar Bidla spoke about CYP’s role in building the capacity of member governments to

address youth entrepreneurship development. While felicitating the outstanding work

pioneered in Bangladesh to support disadvantaged men, women and young people in the area

of micro and small businesses, he underscored the government’s role in making coordinated

efforts to scale it up and sustain the work. He also emphasized that youth employment is a

multi-sectional area, and in this regard clarified CYP’s critical role in starting dialogues with

policymakers and other stakeholders.

Youth unemployment: Global scenario

In the next 5 years, over a billion young men and women will enter the labour force worldwide.

These 1.3 billion young people (to be precise) will compete for only 300 million jobs. Today, out

of the current 88 million youth, one out of three is either seeking but unable to find work, has

given up the job search entirely or is working but living on less than US $2 a day. Ironically,

young people actively seeking to participate in the world of work are two to three times more

likely than older generations to find work. Almost 90 percent of the unemployed youth are

living in the developing countries globally and the Asia region itself accounts for 55 percent of

this population. Of this, South Asia accounts for 26 percent of the youth population and the

number is likely to increase by 12.1 million by the year 2015.


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While the total number of young women and men unemployed throughout the world accounts

for 41 per cent of all the unemployed people globally, these figures do not take into

consideration the underemployed youth worldwide. Many more young people are working long

hours for low pay, struggling to eke out a living in the informal economy. A dangerously large

population of the youth is engaged in hazardous forms of work.

Given this situation, reducing youth unemployment and underemployment is one of the major

challenges facing most governments in the world today. The problem, sadly, is only getting

worse. There was an estimated 81 million unemployed youth in the age group of 15-24 at the

end of 2009, which means 7.8 million more unemployed youth since 2007. Global economic

recession further exacerbated the situation and youth unemployment rate rose from 11.9 to

13.1 percent in a short span of less than 5 years.

While the need for employment creation efforts focusing on youth is undeniable, given the

existing scenario, self employment represents a significant way to tackle unemployment and lift

people out of poverty. Worldwide there is a growing conviction that youth enterprise is one of

the most viable options for both employment creations as well as for the stimulation of

economic growth. Nurturing and supporting young entrepreneurs is therefore fast emerging as

a necessary constituent of the overall national development agendas.

The Bangladesh context

In the context of Bangladesh*, the youth population is presently 50 million -an estimated 32.7%

of the total population. Youth thus constitute one third of the total population of Bangladesh.

80% of them live in rural areas. Only 15 million are currently employed, 23 million are partially

or under-employed and the rest 12 million are fully unemployed. By 2020 the youth population

is expected to reach upwards of 60 million.

Creating gainful employment for the youth in Bangladesh is therefore high on the nation

building agenda. Recognizing that a disciplined, organized, trained and educated youth

community can make significant contribution to the development process, the government in

Bangladesh has taken up various measures for reducing unemployment and to shape its socio-

economic uplift.

*As per the national youth policy, the population in the age group of 18-35 years is considered to be youth in

Bangladesh.


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One of the key national targets under Bangladesh’s Vision 2021 is to reduce youth

unemployment rate by 15% - Growth of SMEs is considered as a driving force to achieve this.

In line with this, the government provides a broad and comprehensive policy mandate for

promoting self-employment and enterprise in the country.

Policy context

In order to delve further into the policy context of youth enterprise support system in

Bangladesh, the consultation discussed the key policies and programmes available in the area.

These are briefly described below.

1. National policy for youth development (NYP) - Formulated by the Ministry of Youth in

2003, the national policy contains provisions which put much emphasis on self-

employment, through practical education and skill development training, utilization of

local resources and by providing micro credit at low rate of interest

2. Youth programmes of DYD – Offer skill development training programmes, self-

employment programmes for trained youth, and credit programmes (group and

individual)

3. Proposed National Education Policy 2010 - Under the Ministry of Education –

emphasizes on self-employment based education.

4. National SME Policy – Was formulated by the Ministry of Industries in 2005 to provide

special emphasis on developing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as a thrust sector

of the country.

5. The SME Foundation - Organizes skill development trainings to cover a range of sectors

and fields. It also channelizes funds to the SME entrepreneurs through designated bank

and non bank financial institutions.

6. SME loan policies formulated by the Bangladesh Bank - Provides relatively cheaper

funds to the commercial banks and financial institutions which might encourage them

for financing the small and medium enterprise sector.

a. Women entrepreneurs’ get special preference under this policy; they are

allowed to get certain amount of loan without collateral.

b. It has instructed banks to announce their targets for a particular year and

allocate at least 40% of total targeted amount for small entrepreneurs.

c. In this policy, manufacturing and service sectors are given preference over the

trading sector to yield greater productivity and to generate more employment in

the economy


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7. The National Service Programme - Launched by Youth Development Directorate, it

provides temporary employment to the unemployed youth with educational

qualifications ranging from SSC to above. Presently, it is running as a pilot programme in

three poverty stricken districts.

8. The Ministry of Labour & Employment - Offers formal vocational & technical education

and training (VET) programmes after class VIII.

9. The Ministry of Women Affairs, Fisheries and others - Organize self-employment

programmes for youth including micro-credit programmes in tie-up with national level

NGO's.

Besides these, the role of other ministries that have responsibility towards youth development

including, rural development and cooperative-microcredit and social welfare - for

disadvantageous youth, were also discussed.

How Bangladesh is moving forward?

Despite the above mentioned policies and programmes that are in place under the different

ministries, agencies and departments, Bangladesh has yet to witness significant progress

towards youth enterprise and entrepreneurship development and its promotion in the country.

In this context, the national consultation sought to understand the missing links and the gaps

and how these can be bridged effectively.

One of the critical issues in Bangladesh, the participants noted, was that the National Youth

Policy does not address how to increase youth employability; neither does it give any concrete

direction on youth enterprise, which it acknowledges, is one of the most effective ways to

reduce the unemployment rate in Bangladesh. Experts further reported that one of the main

obstacles faced in this area is the lack of knowledge and commitment toward youth enterprise

in the government. In this regard, the consultation substantially mulled over the overall

political/ national priority to youth employment and specifically the youth ministry’s role and

influence on the overall policy-making process, which needs to be considerably strengthened in

order to ensure that youth enterprise related issues do not remain marginalized within the

government.

In addition, other major disadvantages and shortcomings in the policy formulation areas that were identified included:

Inadequate policy framework – NYP not clearly connected to broader national policy frame

work

No guideline for implementation – NYP not translated into time bound Action Plan


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Lack of understanding, resources and inadequate capacity of the line ministries

The participation of the youth is absent in policy formulation

Clear direction in terms of engagement among the various departments/ ministries and

NGOs, private sectors and international agencies is absent.

The policy steering body is not prompt to cope up with the demand of the real world in

youth enterprise

Moreover, the review or the lack of it, of the existing policy framework, strategies, approaches

and programmes on youth enterprise, being addressed through different interventions in the

country, and a monitoring and evaluation framework, was another critical area, which the

consultation noted, required attention.

In terms of funding priority, it was observed that budget allocation for youth enterprise in ADP

is rather poor. The consultation noted that the total allocation by ministries related to

enterprise development, youth employment and youth development per se has seen a serious

deceleration in Bangladesh. This is further supported by the declining budget allocation for

promoting youth employment across most of the industries during the last three years, as well

as, by an equally scanty allocation for social welfare, women affairs and the youth sector, which

has on the whole seen a sharp decline in FY2010-11. With budget allocation for one-third of the

country’s population staying at 0.10% of the total budget in 2010-11, youth skill development

training and self-employment programmes, the consultation noted, have naturally been

affected adversely.

In view of these, participants unreservedly noted that in order to address the above challenges

and concerns –a policy makeover is not enough. In this context, CYP shared international best

practices, including the Kenya Youth Enterprise Development Fund, Indonesia Youth

Employment Network, and Commonwealth Youth Credit Initiative (CYCI) in order to highlight

successful approaches around comprehensive and strategic programmes on youth

entrepreneurship, as well as, effective coordination and implementation of such programmes,

all of which needs to be intensified in Bangladesh.

Additionally, the roles and responsibilities of other stakeholders – NGO’s, the corporate

sector, chambers of commerce and industry, financial institutions, banks and other agencies

were deemed equally critical to innovative youth enterprise related skill development

programmes and support services in Bangladesh. The following section of this Report goes into

these areas.


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Role of NGOs, corporate sector and other agencies

The consultation noted that despite the increasingly important role of NGO’s in youth

enterprise development, there is a dearth of NGO’s working in the area of youth

entrepreneurship in Bangladesh, and the few that are there, lack the direction and capacity to

act as catalysts for mainstreaming youth issues.

Emphasizing the role of leading NGO’s in the area, participants were familiarized with BRAC’s

activities in the area of microfinance, in terms of providing loans to both male and female

entrepreneurs to start new enterprises and, support and expand existing ones that are too

small to qualify for credit from commercial banks. Participants were also taken through BRAC’s

adolescent programmes providing livelihood training in different trades and financial education

linked with its microcredit programme to help young people start their own business, targeting

the age group of 14 to 25.

Given this backdrop, participants gained further insight into the roles and responsibilities of

NGOs, which, as the consultation observed, cannot be underestimated. From undertaking

research, which is a missing link in youth enterprise, to the dissemination of research findings

within and outside their vast networks, to providing the much needed marketing and

mentoring platform for hard to reach and disadvantaged youth, to advocacy -playing the

important role of creating awareness around enterprise and entrepreneurship development, to

engaging with the government and policy makers in projecting the collective voice and

concerns on youth enterprise, NGOs were probably in the best place to act as the much needed

pressure groups to make the government more aware and accountable.

In addition, experts agreed that a strong and clearly guided collaboration with the civil society is

essential for the public sector and the private sector in creating a strong base for youth

entrepreneurship mainstreaming. In order to streamline linkages and communication between

the government and these groups, experts discussed the advantage of forming a national level

platform on youth enterprise and related concerns, which would co-ordinate input to

government.

The consultation also underscored the critical role of the corporate sector and industry

chambers, drawing attention to their bargaining power and the power to convene, their

networks and infrastructural access, along with their financial ability to provide platforms and

forums for showcasing entrepreneurs thereby increasing their bankability and visibility. Further

underpinning the corporate sector’s role as a catalyst in advancing youth enterprise,

participants spoke about the sector’s access to industries in aiding the growth in youth led


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enterprise options, and instituting awards and recognition programmes to showcase role

models.

The private sector, as the participants observed, needs to be encouraged and motivated to

contribute to youth enterprise training, and promote active participation of role model

entrepreneurs at the national and international level, as part of their social responsibility.

Role of Financial and other public sector institutions

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma, while on his recent visit in the Caribbean,

encouraged banks to play their part in addressing youth unemployment. He emphasized that

national governments by working with other partners to provide financing, mentorship and

training for young people could ensure business success and good returns on the investment

for all. Senior bankers present at the meeting agreed that a coordinated and focused effort was

needed to support youth employment and enterprise.

While the above brings to light the enormously critical role banks, financial institutions and

non-banking financial institutions have in supporting and advancing youth entrepreneurship in

Bangladesh, finance, as the participants of the national consultation noted, is ironically one of

the biggest constraints in youth enterprise and self-employment with not many financial

institutions coming forward to serve the youth due to a preconceived notion that youth are

high-risk and high-cost clients without any collateral assets.

To refute this notion, best practices programmes such as the Commonwealth Youth Credit

Initiative (CYCI) and the Youth Access to Microfinance in Indonesia were showcased in the

consultation. These programmes, as the participants learnt, have disproved the

abovementioned notions of youth being non-bankable. On the contrary, youth borrowers

actually have equal to or slightly higher repayment rates than the total clientele, as proved in

the majority of Indonesian microfinance institutions (MFIs) and average around 22% of the

clientele.

Additionally, the session drew attention to the Commonwealth’s youth financing initiative with

national bankers– to harness, through a series of capacity building and innovative financing

mechanisms, a range of skills and encourage young entrepreneurs as well as those seeking

employment in up-coming enterprises. Financial institutions in India, Kenya and Mozambique

are already involved in the initiative.


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Added to the issue of demand for funds always surpassing supply, the consultation discussed

the need to make financial interventions and resolutions more youth friendly - most funds have

caps -which prevents young entrepreneurs from obtaining the required and expected amount

of working capital (in the form of loans). Participants also discussed the advantages of skilled

labour force being organized into groups and be provided easy access to finance by banks.

Participants further observed that the role of loan providing could be tackled purely by public

and private sector and other banks, and a coherent strategy on how to better rationalize and

coordinate this issue through better linkages between public sector banks and the public sector

institutions should be worked out.

In the above context, the deliberation insisted that an inclusive financial policy is a must as is

the case for the Reserve Bank of India, which has issued a guideline for a comprehensive

financial inclusion of the marginalized section of the country. Two public sector Banks in India,

namely, the Central Bank of India and Corporation Bank have already piloted youth enterprise

financing projects in a number of districts of India in collaboration with the Commonwealth

Secretariat.

Role of Entrepreneurship Education

The focus of this session was around three key issues / challenges –

The inability of the educational system to provide the appropriate labour force needed by

the market,

The mismatch between the demand for young workers and the supply that seems to be at

the root of their weak integration into the labour market, and

The incapacity to reach the youth in spite of a reasonably large base of educational and skill

/ vocational training system in Bangladesh with an overwhelming majority of young people

available and accessible,

To counter this, experts at the national consultation in Dhaka agreed that on the supply side, a

well linked educational and training system through a closer cooperation between government

and the private sector would facilitate a smoother transition from school to work and/or to self-

employment.

Furthermore, the discussions noted that education and vocational trainings need to be

designed around the informal economy, where most young working people are found in

Bangladesh, as in other developing countries. In addition, vocational training needs to be


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complemented by remedial education for the many young workers in the informal economy

who may have been dropped out of the educational system at an early stage. Another critical

concern included involving family in non formal educational programmes to trigger mindset

changes and aid youngsters in managing risks and the fear and experience of failure.

Participants also underscored the need to reform the education system in order to integrate

entrepreneurship education into mainstream education and in this regard, the necessity for a

curriculum overhaul was discussed.

Emphasis on Skill Development

In this session, participants revisited the youth population in relation to the employment- rate

statistics in Bangladesh, which convey that while 12 million youth are unemployed, 23 million

are under-employed. The present unemployment rate for this age group is 15% higher than

that that of 1990’s and uncomfortably higher than both India and Vietnam. It is estimated that

by 2020 the number of unemployed youth in Bangladesh would reach 60 million.

The ‘Bangladesh Vision 2021’ focuses on meeting the skill training needs of the youth and the

skilled labour force requirement of the country by-

Increasing skill development rate by 10-15% per annum;

Partnership with development agencies to reduce poverty with sustainable

development by 15-20 % per year;

Reforming the skill development system to empower all individuals and ensure

Bangladesh's competitiveness in the global market to be recognized globally by 2025;

Minimizing skills mismatch (Quality and Quantity) across industries --targeting 25% by

2015 and 50% by 2020;

Ensuring a digital Bangladesh as committed to in the 2011-2012 national budget by

2021.

Given this reality and the abovementioned goals, the consultation noted the following:

1. It is imperative to bring back the alienated and marginalized youth into the economic

mainstream by helping them address issues that arise from joblessness. With regard to

this, the following suggestions were made:

Expand capacity of existing educational and training facilities

Implement non-formal education to develop capacity building

Launch programmes to upgrade the educational attainment of young drop-outs and

low achievers from the formal education system


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Marketing training programme at the grassroot level to support rural enterprises

2. The consultation noted that the concept of skills and vocational training through non-

formal channels, in relation to youth enterprise and entrepreneurship, requires an

image makeover in Bangladesh. The key issues that were raised included:

People giving additional weight to formal education because of the certificates and

awards associated, based on a traditional mindset

The country’s social system shuns employment outside of the traditional white-

collar job circuit

The university /higher education system –occupying a place of overwhelming

importance in the educational system, should be more directly linked to the solution

of unemployment problem and play a more active role in encouraging young men

and women to seek self-employment

3. The educated youth need to be provided opportunities to choose and build their

profession according to their interest and aptitude.

4. The current admission age (18 years) for youth skill training centres (YTC) under DYD

may be reduced to accommodate youngsters who drop out of school early and are more

prone to becoming vulnerable to frustration, drug addiction, anti-social activities, eve

teasing and family disrespect.

5. Additionally, the present skill gap in the labour force needs to be addressed – middle to

senior management jobs across various sectors in Bangladesh have attracted a huge

number of Indian workers (60,000 technicians/professionals are presently working in

different sectors of the country). The leather sector alone requires a skilled labour force

of 30,000 in the current year. Similarly, the world’s biggest footwear factory is being set

up at Chittagong in Bangladesh and is targeting a skilled force of 30,000 to 40,000

workers. Moreover, FDI is expected to come in the leather sector, particularly from

Taiwan and China with availability of skilled people increasing further. Likewise with

regard to the current focus on high quality light engineering industry in Bangladesh.

With all these opportunities, the critical question that was raised was-Where is the

skilled labour coming from?

Given the above challenges and opportunities, the consultation mulled over the need for an

Industrial Skills Council (ISC) to act as the apex industry body on skills development and

engaging with a host of stakeholders to serve as a one point service center on any issue on the

crucial subject.


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Industrial sectors and related opportunities in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, about 78 percent of the labor force is engaged in informal sector activities

(agriculture and informal services). Agriculture alone employs 48 percent of the labor force,

while its GDP share is less than 20 percent. However, as the deliberations pointed out, the

growing labor force can no longer be fully absorbed by an agriculture based Bangladesh

economy. In this context, the deliberations emphasized on the need to encourage SMEs and

self-employment based non-farm activities covering both rural and urban areas as crucial for

employment generation.

In addition, other alternative options becoming popular amongst the youth were discussed as

under:

IT Out sourcing (RB-NRB Linkage)

E-Commerce and Web Based project

Graphic designs, Softwares and other related products

Mobile Technology

Media-Print, Electronic and Internet

Tourism

Fashion Designing and Dress Making

Health and Health care

Activation Companies

Music, Dance, Choreography and other innovative sectors

Different service sectors

All of this, the deliberations pointed out, would require strong policy support, including a clear

policy on skill development which embodies strategic interventions for improving the education

system and its integration with entrepreneurship education.


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Recommendations

In view of the above, noting that the existing facilities with regard to youth enterprise need to

be made more adequate and relevant, what emerged from the deliberations was a

comprehensive set of strategies and recommendations that are presented below:

What needs to be addressed

(issues /gaps / challenges

Recommended Actions

(Policy and programme related areas)

POLICY AREA

1) NYP not upgraded nor translated into time

bound Action Plan & Implementation

strategy

2) DYD's role not adequately defined

3) Mismatch and overlaps between different

ministries

4) YED issues and concerns unclear and

neglected

1) Inter-ministerial coordination needed to

establish a broad-based understanding of YED

at policy-level

Anchored by DYD/Ministry of Youth and

Sports as focal point organisation

Mismatch and overlaps between different

ministries/national level policies need to

be identified and rectified

Existing policies realignment: other

ministries need Policy audit and alignment

with NYP

2) NYP to be upgraded

Align NYP with Broader National Policy

Framework

Visioning for transforming the

disorganized unproductive youth into

productive workforce

Lobby with financial institutions

Consult representation of young people /

role model entrepreneurs

DYD's role to be adequately defined and

made pivotal in youth development

3) Time bound action plan and implementation

strategy

Make policies binding

Reassess and review existing policies

Establish regular policy audit and M&E

mechanism

Redesign existing programmes to meet the

required demand

4) R&D initiatives to assist Government in

formulating policies and strategies


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Recommended Actions


SKILL DEVELOPMENT & TRAINING

1) Skill training is not need based

2) Programmes are stereotyped

3) Training needs analysis not addressed

4) Supply – demand ratio is very poor

1) Clear policy on skill development including

vocational, ICT based on training needs

assessment

Proper infiltration at the grassroots level

and targeting youth with focus on

vulnerability

Skill training based on skill demand in local

industry, especially manufacturing and

services as well as on international labor

markets.

Life skills and entrepreneurship education

integrated into mainstream education

One stop skill service centre at sub district

level

2) Public and private sector players to step in to

offer advanced skill development

3) Improve co-ordination among

GO/NGO's/Private Sector

4) Make available critical data on real numbers of

employed youths

5) Remove education curriculum mismatch with

field requirement

6) Educational institutions to be better equipped

to generate professional labour force as per

requirement

7) Undertake advocacy for youth

entrepreneurship (as an equal stream, if not

higher, to MBA, finance, HRD, accounting,

marketing education etc.)


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Recommended Actions


BANKS / FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

1) Financial policies/guidelines are not youth

friendly

Interest rates on loans are as high as 15%

and sometimes even more – this

discourages entrepreneurial growth,

especially amongst marginalized youth

2) Lack of funds

Most funds have caps, which prevent

entrepreneurs from obtaining required

working capital (in the form of loans or as

such)

Demand for funds almost always surpasses

the supply

1) Government should roll out an inclusive

financial policy

2) Financial resolutions / guidelines to be made

youth friendly

3) Need for a coherent strategy to improve

coordination between public sector banks and

public sector institutions

4) Special allocation for youth enterprise with

differential rate of interest

5) SMEs should be recognized as a thrust sector

6) Banking institutions – public/private

Need to recognize youth are bankable

Undertake youth credit initiatives

NGOs, PVT. SECTOR, OTHER AGENCIES

1) Youth have less space in policy dialogue

2) Youth have limited ‘united’ voice on YED

3) Youth yet to emerge as an independent

‘pressure group’

4) No engagement / Lack of co-ordination

between NGOs and public sectors for youth

enterprise and SME development

1) Government to take a proactive role -

Bring in the private sector working on

youth issues and concerns to create a

voice for the youth and youth enterprise

Harness the potential of various self help

youth groups by offering them meaningful

incentives

Lead awareness /advocacy effort around

YED

Involve national level NGOs to

nurture/support youth enterprise and

entrepreneurs.

2) Chambers, employers’ and trade associations

to be brought into the loop

Launch a national level youth forum

3) SME Foundation to help facilitate and bring

public and private sector stakeholders

together in youth issues


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Recommended Actions


OTHER BARRIERS / CONSTRAINTS

1) Lack of transparency, difficult legal

requirements and bureaucratic procedures

Budding entrepreneurs still need to pay

bribes for trade license, TIN certificate

High lag-time for obtaining license and

BSTI approval

Gender bias – women still require

husbands to be guarantor for signing loans

Lack of social and societal support

Self-employment often seen as a means to

escape poverty

Lack of information

Entrepreneurs have limited knowledge on

trade regulations

Lack of access / information on market

linkages and BDS

1) Government needs to proactively generate

factors of production

Create special advantages for SME

entrepreneurs

Improve infrastructure facility

Clearly defined roles of different

government institutions with respect to

youth enterprise development

2) Proactive measure need to be taken at the

policy level to simplify bureaucratic regulatory

and registration procedures for young aspiring

entrepreneurs.

3) Undertake baseline survey on youth

entrepreneurship / SME and related data

collection / research study for information

access, needs analysis, programme

development and advocacy

Conclusions

In conclusion, and in view of the commitment of the Ministry of Youth to review and upgrade

the National Youth Policy with a focus on prioritizing youth employment and enterprise, the

consultation resolved to share the key recommendations on youth enterprise and

entrepreneurship development in Bangladesh (presented above) with the Ministry of Youth and

other key partners, with the aim to bring out a National Strategy and Action Plan under the

Ministry of Youth and well integrated into the national youth policy development framework.

The Commonwealth Youth Programme, in particular, underscored the need for Government to

initiate dialogues with national level banking and financial services sector with a view to

formulate youth friendly financial guidelines to support youth enterprise initiatives. The CYP

also offered to provide technical assistance on youth enterprise programmes and projects

through the Commonwealth Technical Cooperation Fund whereby it has placed expert


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consultants in a number of member countries like Botswana, Cameroon, Lesotho,

Mozambique, Namibia, Solomon Islands, Swaziland, Sierra Leon and Tanzania, to name a few.

As a way forward, CYP will now help undertake the accomplishment of the commitments made

by various stakeholders to promote and accelerate youth enterprise development in

Bangladesh, including the Arab Bangladesh Bank’s interest to support a Youth Financing Project

in partnership with the Ministry of Youth, the Mutual Trust Bank’s interest to support and pilot

a youth enterprise related project in partnership with the SME Foundation, the Bangladesh

Bank’s commitment to craft youth friendly financial inclusion policy / guidelines and the SME

Foundation’s concurrence to set up a dedicated help line desk for young entrepreneurs.

ANNEXES

National Consultation in Youth Employment with a Focus on Youth Enterprise , Dhaka

1) Participants’ list

Mst. Hazera Khatun Deputy Secretary (Section 8) Ministry of Labour and Employment Bangladesh Secretariet Dhaka. Telephone: 7173313

Md. Nozrul Islam Deputy Director (Implementation) Department of Youth Development Jubo Bhaban, Dhaka Mobile: 01705 015017

M.M. Shamsul Alam Deputy Director (Planning) Department of Youth Development Jubo Bhaban, Dhaka Mobile: 01711703059

Ashit Kumar Sutradhar Deputy Director (National Service) Department of Youth Development Jubo Bhaban, Dhaka Mobile: 01915 875816

SK. Mojibul Huq Manager (Advocacy) BRAC Centre 75 Mohakhali, Dhaka Phone: 9881265, Ext. 2046

Dipen Kumar Saha Manager (Operation) Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) PKSF - Dhaka Mobile: 01714 072041 E-mail: [email protected]

Dulal Biswas Secretary General National Federation Of Youth Organizations In Bangladesh (NFYOB), Dhaka Tel: 9111660 Mobile: 01711 037002 Email:[email protected]

Mohd. Rezaul Karim President National Youth Council of Bangladesh (NYCB) Dhaka Tel: 9358651, Fax: 88 02 9358651 110 E-mail: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


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Habibur Rahaman Director, UNYSA Bangladesh UNYSA Bangladesh, Dhaka Cell Number:+8801671086829 E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

Md. Masudur Rahman Program Officer (Women Entrepreneurship Development) SME Foundation, Dhaka Cell: 01715 783408 E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Shahreen Srabon Tilottoma Regional Youth Caucus, (Representing Bangladesh) Commonwealth Youth Programme, Asia Center. Tel: 01720 022222 E-mail: [email protected]

Md. Raqibul Islam Youth Forum for Poverty Alleviation and Development (YFPAD) BRAC Centre, Dhaka Cell: 01912 627961 E-mail: [email protected]

Md. Ashraful Alam Joint Director (SME & SPD) Bangladesh Bank, Dhaka Mobile: 01714 110792 E-mail: [email protected]

Perwez Anzam Moonir Deputy Director Bangladesh Bank, Dhaka Mobile: 01819 281181

Md. Dilwar Hossain Bhuiyan General Manager Karmasangsthan Bank Dhaka Mobile: 01732 428289 E-mail: [email protected]

Md. Abul Khair Senior Faculty Member Small & Cottage Industries Training Institute (SCITI) Dhaka Mobile: 01552 308294

Mohammed Ezadus Salam Research Assistant Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI), Dhaka Mobile: 01717 110554 E-mail: [email protected]

Md. Nure Alom Mahadi Deputy Director Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA), Dhaka Mobile: 01556 316974, Phone: 9559672 E-mail: [email protected]

Muhammed Amzad Hussain Co-Chairman Young Entrepreneurship Development Standing Committee The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), Dhaka Mobile: 01713 454444

M. Abu Horaira Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) Dhaka

Shaquib Quoreshi Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), Dhaka Cell: 01713 039784 E-mail: [email protected]

Afroja Parvin Executive Director NARI UNNAYAN SHAKTI (NUS), Dhaka Tel: 88 02 8270253, 88 02 8270254 Mobile: 88 01711541529 Fax: 88 02 7215005 E-mail: [email protected]

Salma Sonia Abu Monjoor Sayeef





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Cell phone number : 01716 264416 E-mail : [email protected]

Program Manager (Policy Advocacy & Research) SME Foundation, Dhaka Mobile: 01714 133003 E-mail: [email protected]

Sonya Hossain Firoz Program Manager (Business Support Service) SME Foundation, Dhaka Mobile: 01715456866 E-mail: [email protected]

Nandita Baishnab Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) Dhaka- Mobile: 01710111505 E-mail: [email protected]

Pervin Banu Deputy Secretary Ministry of Youth and Sports Govt. of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Bangladesh Secretariat, Dhaka Mobile: E-mail: [email protected]

Zakir Ahmed Deputy Secretary Ministry of Youth and Sports Govt. of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Bangladesh Secretariat, Dhaka Mobile: 01738 273365 E-mail: [email protected]

Md. Mohsin Ali Khandaker Deputy Chief Ministry of Youth and Sports Govt. of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Bangladesh Secretariat, Dhaka Mobile: 01712 000857 E-mail: [email protected]

Nazmul Haque Khan Deputy Secretary (Scholarship) Ministry of Education Bangladesh Secretariat, Dhaka. Mobile: 01716 941029

Nirmal Kanti Chakma Sr. Assistant Secretary Ministry of Youth and Sports Govt. of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Bangladesh Secretariat, Dhaka Mobile: 01716 813137

Obaidur Rahman Technical Adviser Save the Children Denmark, Dhaka Mobile: 01713 240330 E-mail: [email protected]

Marzia Naznin Research Officer Department of Women Affairs, Dhaka Mobile: 01712 709977

Md. Saidul Islam Programme Officer ILO Country Office for Bangladesh, Dhaka Phone: +88-02-9112836/9112876 Cell: +88-01715 821040 e-mail: [email protected]

Naiyer Fatema Khanom Officer & Credit Analyst, SME Banking Division Mutual Trust Bank Limited, Dhaka Mobile: 01713 041023 E-mail: [email protected]

Hasnain Mehdi Senior Principal Officer SME Division AB Bank Limited Mobile: 01715 118624 E-mail: [email protected]

Nazma Parvin Laizu Nokshi Agro Food & Beverage Limited, Dhaka Mobile: 01711 488785, E-mail: [email protected]






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2) Concept Note

Background

Young people in the developing world as well as in Bangladesh have either limited or no job skills

training and self-employment opportunities. Moreover, developing countries’ labour markets are not

fully equipped to put youth to work. There are not enough jobs in the public and private sectors to

absorb the millions of youth in the labour market. In relation to youth led entrepreneurship/enterprise

development, it is pertinent to mention that setting up a new venture has never been easy for a young

person.

Education and training

A nation’s ability to participate in the global economy is largely determined by its citizen’s access to

quality education and training, decent employment opportunities, and an infrastructure that promotes

and supports entrepreneurship. It is, in this context that our education system has an essential role to

play in enabling young entrepreneurs to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.

Governments should thus encourage entrepreneurial education in our schools, colleges and universities

and promote the same through non traditional, community-based means that value real life

experiences.

Access to finance

In relation to youth led entrepreneurship/enterprise development, it is pertinent to mention that setting

up a new venture has never been easy for young people. They need to find money in the first place; to

sustain the venture until it obtains an income from selling goods or services; to support it in difficult

times and expand it in good times. In summary, they essentially need access to resources – financial and

managerial which they can bank on. In many countries they have to work in an environment where legal

and financial regulations are not youth-friendly and public services unreliable. In some cases, they have

to overcome deep-seated cultural barriers to success. Besides, the current global economic downturn

has increased the need for developing a robust youth entrepreneurship/enterprise development

programme. Unfortunately, very few institutions actually serve young people in a practical way as they

are perceived as high-risk groups with insignificant or no assets to use as collateral. In all regions where

research took place see self-employment and entrepreneurship as their best employment option and

strategy against formal employment in the private and public sectors.

Coordinated efforts

Young entrepreneurs receive some assistance from a range of non-governmental organisations, private-

sector initiatives, educational institutions and government agencies, but in many countries this web of

support is inefficient and inconsistent. Hence, there is a felt need to make concerted efforts to build a


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strategic coalition on youth enterprise wherein all relevant stakeholders bring in their expertise,

experience and resources with a view to promoting youth enterprise. Government should encourage

strategic collaboration and cooperation among organisations across the public, private and non-profit

sectors, both within countries and across the Asia region.

Growing interest in the self employment/enterprise development

This economic crisis is forcing national governments to reassess their policies and programmes,

especially those related to employment and business creation. Limited formal jobs as a result of the

economic crisis may have served to induce some youth (more likely the more educated and privileged)

to establish their own businesses that hired others. In this context self employment promotion has

become an integral part of national strategies that aim at creating sustainable employment for the

youth as an alternative career option. This should be regarded as a positive development considering

the paucity of jobs in the formal sectors.

Review of National Youth, Employment, and Education policies along with national development

framework to promote youth employment

National Youth and Education Policies do invariably touch upon the issue of youth employment.

However, since the concerned Ministries are not the nodal Ministries for employment, policy documents

brought out by them merely highlight the problem without offering a solution in the form of an action

plan. Therefore, the need for a National Action Plan on Youth Employment well integrated into the

national policy development framework is an absolute imperative. The National Youth Policy being the

critical policy instrument for youth may support the National Action Plan on Youth Employment besides

the two other policies, namely, National Employment Policy and National Education Policy and must not

be seen as a standalone policy instrument. An organic linkage between these policies which mainstream

youth employment strategies into the national development strategies and establishment of an

effective institutional mechanism with adequate resource allocation may be regarded as lying at the

heart of the issues relating to youth employment.

Addressing youth unemployment: UN, ILO, World Bank and YEN

The Youth Employment Network (YEN), comprising the United Nations, ILO, and the World Bank as core

partners, was established following the Millennium Summit to give priorities to youth employment on

the development agenda and to disseminate policies and programmes to improve employment

opportunities for young people. As a result, youth employment issue has gained momentum at the

national level. It has also formulated a set of guidelines for preparation of National Action Plans on

Youth Employment and stands committed to provide technical assistance to the lead country.


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CYP’s Mandate for Youth Employment with emphasis on Youth Enterprise

The CYP’s Strategic Plan (2008-2012) focuses largely on the need for addressing youth enterprise as a

viable means to tackling the larger issue of youth unemployment. This is sought to be achieved through

advocacy and partnership with various stakeholders in the formulation of an integrated action plan and

sharing of good practices in the member countries including its own i.e. the Commonwealth Youth

Credit Initiative (CYCI). Realising the importance of youth enterprise/entrepreneurship development, the

Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) piloted Commonwealth Youth Credit Initiatives (CYCI) in

different regions of the Commonwealth with a view to supporting young people to set up their

businesses.

The results from the CYCI experiment proved that young people are bankable to credit and as a result,

some member governments have launched their own Youth Credit Programme or set up a Youth

Enterprise fund to support youth enterprise in their countries. CYP seeks to strengthen the CYCI, by

turning it into an integrated and holistic enterprise development programme, which is built around

comprehensive and mutually reinforcing skills development, funding, and mentorship. Moreover, CYP

has a high level of commitment for youth enterprise which has been well articulated in the

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2009 in Trinidad and Tobago. It is relevant to mention

here that Heads of Government in their meeting in 2009 committed to support a new initiative which

should engage a considerably wider range of funders and partners, including Ministries of Youth, Labour

and Employment, Banking; international finance institutions, regional organisations, banks, and

businesses.

Regional Conference on investing in Youth Employment (22-24 February 2100, Colombo)

The CYP Asia Centre in partnership with Ministry of Youth and Skills Development, Sri Lanka has

organised a conference from 22-24 February 2011 on Investing in Youth Employment with a view to

bring relevant stakeholders together to discuss regional trends and challenges in youth

entrepreneurship/enterprise development and also to provide strategic directions to the participants on

broader youth employment related challenges and trends. Bangladesh participated in this conference

with 6 member delegations comprising of senior officials from Ministries of Youth and Labour, BRAC,

PKSF, SME Foundation and Bangladesh Bank.

National Consultation and capacity building of the partners

In line with the Regional Conference held in Colombo, the Commonwealth Youth Programme in

partnership with its nodal Ministry of Youth & Sports, Government of Bangladesh, SME Foundation and

other stakeholders are proposing to organize a national consultation to devise strategies to address

youth unemployment in an integrated way.


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3) Agenda

National Consultation on Investing in Youth Employment with a Focus on

Youth Enterprise and Employment

07-09 June, 2011, Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Day One: 07-06-2011, Tuesday

OPENING CEREMONY

09:30 AM Registration

10:05 AM Welcome address by: Mr. Gazi Mizanur Rahman

Joint Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sports

10:10 AM Introductory address by: Mr. Rajkumar Bidla

Pan Commonwealth Office of CYP, London

10:20 AM Address by Special Guest: Mr. Aftab ul Islam, FCA

Chairperson, SME Foundation

10:30 AM Address by Special Guest: Mr. Md. Ahad Ali Sarkar, MP

State Minister, Ministry of Youth and Sports

10:40 AM Address by the Chief Guest: Mr. Dilip Barua

Minister, Ministry of Industries

10:50 AM Address by the Chair: Mr. Mahbub Ahmed

Secretary, Ministry of Youth & Sports

11:00 AM Presentation of memento

11:10 AM Vote of thanks by: Dr. Nurul Quadir

Deputy General Manager, SME Foundation

11:15 AM Refreshment

Day One: 07-06-2011, Tuesday

12:00 Introduction & objectives

Discussion By : Aminul Islam Khan

CYP Asia Center

Chandigarh, India

12:30 to 13:30 Addressing youth unemployment: Global & Regional perspectives

Millennium Development Goals

UN, ILO Resolutions/mandates

CHOGM/CYMM mandates

Chair : Gagan Raj Bhandari

Deputy Director

ILO Country Office for Bangladesh

Presentation By : Aminul Islam Khan

CYP Asia Center

Chandigarh, India


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Presentation By : Rajkumar Bidla

Pan Commonwealth Office of CYP

London

Followed by Q.A

13:30 to 14:30 Lunch

14:30 to 15:30 Policy commitment on youth employment/Enterprise – process mechanism ,

opportunities and challenges associated with its implementation

Chair : A.B.M. Khorshed Alam

Additional Secretary

Ministry of Industries

Govt. of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Presentation by : Dr. Khondaker Golam Moazzem

Senior Research Fellow

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)

Presentation by : Aminul Islam Khan

CYP Asia Center

Chandigarh, India

Presentation by : Zaki Uz Zaman

Head of Operations, UNIDO

Bangladesh office

Followed by Q.A

15:30 to 16:00 Tea

16:00 to 17:00 Role of NGOs, Corporate sector and other agencies to promote youth

enterprise

Chair : Md. Nurun Nabi Talukder

Director General

NGO Affairs Bureau

Presentation by : Ferdous Ara Begum

Additional Secretary

Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI)

Presentation by: Rashida Parveen

Programme Manager

BRAC Education Program

Presentation By : Rajkumar Bidla


London, Followed by Q.A

Day Two: 08-06-2011, Wednesday

10:00 to 10:30 Recap

10:30 to 11:30

Youth Unemployment in Bangladesh- Context, trends, nature – Challenges

and opportunities:


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Chair : Rajkumar Bidla


London

Presentation by : Dr. Rowshan Ara

Professor, Department of Philosophy

University of Dhaka

Presentation by : Shahab Enam Khan

Project Director

Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI)

Presentation by : Majedur Rahman

Additional Managing Director

AB Bank Limited

Followed by Q.A

11:30 to 12:00 Tea break

12:00 to 13:00 Review of policies and programmes for promoting youth

employment/enterprise development in Bangladesh with a focus on skill &

entrepreneurship training, access to finance and support etc.

Chair : Dr. Shamsul Alam

Member, GED

Planning Commission

Govt. of Bangladesh

Presentation by : Lila Rashid

Deputy General Manager

Bangladesh Bank, Sylhet Branch

Presentation by : Md. Abdul Wadud

Principal

Small & Cottage Industries Training Institute (SCITI)

Presentation by : Gazi Mizanur Rahman

Joint Secretary

Ministry of Youth and Sports

Govt. of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Followed by Q.A

13:00 to 14:00 Lunch

14:00 to 15:30 Role of Financial and other public sector institutions to promote youth

employment:

Chair : Murshed Kuli Khan

Deputy Governor-3

Bangladesh Bank

Presentation by : Dr. Toufic Ahmad Choudhury

Director General

http://www.bei-bd.org/beiteams/view/20


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Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management

Presentation by : Dr. Md. Nurul Huda Chowdhury

Managing Director

Karmasangsthan Bank

Followed by Q.A

15:30 to 16:00 Tea break

16:00 to 17:00 Investing in youth employment with a focus on youth enterprise- Why and

How?

Chair : Dr. Mahabub Hossain

Executive Director

BRAC

Presentation by : Professor Dr. Kamal Uddin

Director

Institute of Appropriate Technology, BUET

Presentation by : Francis Dilip De Silva

ILO Country Office for Bangladesh

Presentation by : Ejaj Ahmad

President

Bangladesh Youth Leadership Centre (BYLC)

Followed by Q.A

10:00 to 11:30 Day Three: 09-06-2011, Thursday

11:30– 12:00 Tea break

12:00-13:30

Sharing good practices:

-CYCI

-Kenya Youth Enterprise Fund

-YEFI (Central Bank of India, Corporation Bank-Commonwealth secretariat

Initiative)

-IYEN (Indonesian Youth Employment Network)

Chair : Ms. Selima Ahmad

President, BWCCI

Coordination : Aminul Islam Khan & Rajkumar Bidla

13:30-14:30 Lunch

14:30-15:30 Sharing good practices:

a. One case from DYD : Akhtaruzzaman

Nolchiti, Jhalokathi

b. One from SME Foundation : Architect Mir Alamin

Noorjahan Agro food products Ltd.

Bagerhat

Coordination : Dr.Nurul Quadir, SME Foundation & Mr. Aminul Islam Khan


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15:30-17:00 Group work to discuss and to suggest : Workable strategies to promote youth

enterprise programmes

Strategic directions for building Commonwealth coalition on youth

employment

Strategic partnerships and resource mobilisation for youth enterprise

programmes

Methodology

Participants will be divided into three working groups to brainstorm on

the issues discussed above and prepare their group presentations

Facilitators: Aminul Islam Khan

Rajkumar Bidla

17:00-17:30 Group presentations and discussions

17:30-18:30 Closing Ceremony

18:30 Tea

Documents

Dhaka - SME Foundation Consultation, Dhaka 3 Abbreviations BDS Business Development Services BRAC Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee CHOGM Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting