5th International Conference on Inclusive Business 2021
5th International Conference on Inclusive Business 2021 on 15th September 2021
Dutch-Bangla Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DBCCI) and SNV Netherlands Development Organisation in Bangladesh hosted the Fifth International Conference on Inclusive Business on Wednesday, the 15th September 2021 at Le Meridien Hotel in Dhaka, Bangladesh. With the theme “Inclusive Investment for Poverty Resilient”, this year's conference aims to find solutions on how business inclusion could contribute to eradication. The world is running in a new normal situation and there are a lot of people who fall into poverty which is not their fault. The business is also experiencing many new things and accepting exceptional social causes. The use of technology and demand for covid-19 pandemic shifted the business activity with many new dimensions and caused a lot of job loss, on other hand, a lot of opportunity was created to serve the new demands from the market.
Mr. Md. Anwar Shawkat Afser, President, Dutch-Bangla Chamber presided over the inaugural session. Mr. Afser said that DBCCI and SNV are jointly working on this inclusive business concept to cooperate with Bangladesh to turn poverty into prosperity. The sectors they work on Energy and Water, Sanitation & Hygiene are very important in context with our present demand. SNV Bangladesh Country office is implementing Working with Women Project 2 in Bangladesh, with funding support from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, where the project is supporting RMG factories incorporating laws and policies related to health and SRHR through Inclusive Business (IB) models. He thanked the people of the Netherlands, their prudent government leaders and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Dhaka for their earnest cooperation for our country.
H.E. Dr. A. K. Abdul Momen, M.P, Foreign Minister, People Republic of Bangladesh has graced the event as the Chief Guest in the inaugural session. Md. Sirazul Islam, Executive Chairman, BIDA, Prime Minister's Office, Government of Bangladesh attended the program as the special guest. Ms. Ismene Stalpers, Country Director, SNV Bangladesh, Mr.Kevin Teo, COO, AVPN, attended the event online as guest of honor. DBCCI Board of Directors, Mr. Md. Shahjahan Shaju, Vice President, Mr. Md. Shakawat Hossain Mamun, Secretary General, Mr. Ataus Sopan Malik, Joint Secretary General, Mr. Noafel Bin Reza, Director Finance, Mr. Md. Nazmul Haque, Mr. Shahid Alam, Director were present in the program. Mrs. Farzana Afser, First Lady of DBCCI and Managing Partner of TRIMOYEE were also present in the event.
The Honourable Foreign Minister said that The Dutch contribution to the world of the arts, sciences – particularly of the ICT area and of epistemology, chemistry, law, cartography and marine studies are legendary. The Netherlands and the people of the Netherlands have been amongst the pioneers of the ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) model of conducting business too.
The Minister informed that in 2009, right after Awami League took power under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, we defined our core foreign policy priorities as economy, ecology and governance. Our strategic and tactical programming around the constitutional dictate of ‘Friendship to All and Malice to None’ – as was propounded by the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman – have been nuanced by our focus on connecting peoples, connecting markets and optimizing on the global value chain contributions that each of us can contribute both at the human individual level and at the level of enterprise. We are working across a set of both overlapping and differentiated sets of priorities, principals and actors – all of which focus on one desired outcome – an inclusive and responsible human development outcome.
Dr. Momen thanked DBCCI and said that he is happy to see the vertices that the Dutch Chamber has put into perspective for the conference today. I have just recently visited the Netherlands and I am indeed fascinated by thinking about the possibilities that we can envision and act upon between the two countries. Starting with the great A P Møller and Maersk Sealand – it could not look into waste management, land reclamation, preventing coastal erosion and connecting the design spaces. We would also like to discuss the possibility of Bangladeshi technical hands contributing to the design space which the Dutch businesses and corporate bodies are sponsoring – including but not limited to agriculture and ICT.
We are looking for opportunities where we could contribute meaningfully to the global productivity and finance networks together with the Netherlands. The Netherlands is the seventh largest investor in Bangladesh in 2019. The two-way trade has increased. Blue Economy and the Circular Economy are avenues where we could imagine, envision and create more work!
Both the Dutch and the Bengalis are resilient peoples. We have braved the inclement climates and we have survived. There must have been something common to both our nations which we can leverage for greater benefits to both and beyond. The Honorable Minister ended his speech to say “I wish the conference Godspeed!”
Ms. Farhtheeba Rahat Khan, Team Leader, RMG Inclusive Business Programs, SNV Bangladesh delivered the keynote speech on the subject. Mr. Jamal Uddin, Inclusive Business Consultant, RMG Inclusive Business Program, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation in Bangladesh led the panel sessions.
It came out from the discussion that the new challenges demanded for extra skills and knowledge in the supply chain and business has the potential risk factor to address those situations. The new trends of the business in the changing world may create more opportunities in the supply chain to explore diversity and inclusion. This conference will open the window to redefine the business challenges and stress more into sustainable business solutions to resilient poverty through innovations in the supply chains.
The very first Inclusive Business (IB) conference was held in Bangladesh in 2016 with the joint effort from SNV, UNDP, BFP and BCTA. From 2018 onwards, SNV in collaboration with DBCCI is organizing these conferences on a yearly basis. SNV intends to continue this initiative for greater stakeholder engagement this year as well. We firmly believe that new challenges foresee new opportunities, and we are confident and well prepared to pick up the threads and host 4th edition of the IB conference in person.
SNV& DBCCI intend to continue this initiative for greater stakeholder engagement this year as well regardless of the on-going global crisis of COVID-19 pandemic. This year for Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN) has collaborated with the initiative and as an international collaborator to take forward this initiative in the longer term. We firmly believe that new challenges foresee new opportunities and by accepting the harsh reality of Coronavirus WITH adequate precaution measures, we are confident and well prepared to pick up the threads and host 5th edition of the IB conference in person.
In Bangladesh, the private sector is progressively realizing the potential of the Inclusive Business concepts for sustainable growth. SNV Netherlands Development Organisation has been incorporating the Inclusive Business models in the Ready-made Garment (RMG) sector since 2014 to improve the health and wellbeing of the workers, with a particular focus on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.
This International Conference on Inclusive Business is intended to create new business ecosystems that will deliver value to all, support inclusive growth and manifest the effects of successful public-private partnerships for improving socioeconomic conditions.
