DHAKA, June 6, 2022 (BSS) - To make trading across borders easier for women-owned businesses, Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD), in collaboration with IFC, organized a workshop today to give policy recommendations for making trading across border easier for women-owned businesses.

The workshop was held with the title "Dissemination Seminar on Policy Recommendations to Make Trading Across Border Easier for Women-Owned Businesses".

Sharifa Khan, Member (Secretary), Planning Commission, was present at the workshop as chief guest. 

Representatives from Bangladesh Bank, Office of the Chief Controller of Imports and Exports (CCI&I), National Board of Revenue (NBR) and the Ministry of Commerce participated in the workshop as the panelists.

While overall trading across borders has remained a challenge in Bangladesh, women-owned businesses face even more difficulties compared to their male counterparts. 

This is mostly due to their lack of knowledge about policies and procedures for export and import, limited ICT orientation and exposure to service providers, said a press release.
 
To address this, BUILD and International Finance Corporation, under the Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund (BICF) project supported by the UK Government's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) had previously organized 14 virtual orientation and awareness workshops for women-owned businesses on trade procedures from different divisions and districts of Bangladesh. 

Training was given to women entrepreneurs on general business procedures, trade-related online and manual services provided by the government, rules and regulations for operating formal businesses in Bangladesh and government announced policy benefits, especially for women entrepreneurs. 

Through these workshops, the project has reached approximately 27,000 women entrepreneurs, government representatives, and start-ups and other stakeholders. 

During these workshops, the participants shared the major challenges and issues faced by them. Following which, a report has been prepared with policy recommendations to address these challenges which were disseminated in the event. 

Major challenges shared by women-owned businesses during the workshops included business formalization (traditional and e-commerce), cumbersome trade licensing processes and high renewal fees, getting collateral-free loans and loans from stimulus packages from banks and financial institutions, lack of knowledge on effective marketing and branding, and inability to fully revive from the direct impacts of COVID-19 and to access government announced incentives. 

Other issues raised by women-owned businesses included having inadequate distribution channels, lack of a coordinated platform for trade facilitation, lack of knowledge regarding TIN/VAT registration and return submission, lack of demand-based training facilities like training for marketing on digital platforms, absence of a regional cargo flight facility, lack of knowledge regarding IRC and ERC online applications, problems in applying for a trade license in case of online-based business and limited information regarding the annual trade fair. 

Besides, high registration fees, poor buyer-seller linkage within and beyond the country, raw material availability, and branding non-traditional products produced by women-owned businesses were also identified as challenges.

Some of the major recommendations highlighted in the seminar were: rationalization of trade license issuing process and fees, simplification of access to finance and mitigating the information gap of marketing, finance and incentives. 

Nusrat Nahid Babi, Task Team Leader for Trade Competitiveness for Export Diversification project, IFC, Mashfique Ibne Akbar, Private Sector Development Adviser, FCDO, and Nihad Kabir, Chairperson, BUILD and Ferdaus Ara Begum, CEO, BUILD also spoke, among others, at the event among others.