WORKSHOP

Bangladesh Social Enterprise Project

A two-day Kick-Off workshop on the Bangladesh Social Enterprise Project (BSEP) was organized on April 6 and 7, 2009 by the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI), at the BEI Conference Room.

The objective of this workshop was to identify the strengths and opportunities of companies in doing business with the poor and address the challenges and threats.

The first day of the workshop was inaugurated by Industries Minister Dilip Barua. Barua was appreciative of BEI’s efforts in encouraging the local private sector to directly venture into the social development of the country and ultimately work for poverty alleviation. He was delighted that the project aims to utilize key strengths of the private sector to address some of the poverty related issues of our country and is hopeful that the project can further reinforce their objective to help people by giving them both access and opportunity to work for the poor and to help them through different entrepreneurial endeavors.

Richard Boulter, Deputy Head, DFID, set the stage for the workshop by introducing the concept of Social Enterprise and explaining DFID’s rationale behind supporting the project. Dr. Atiur Rahman, Honorary Chairman, Unnayan Shamannay, was present as the Special Guest, on the first day. According to him, at the crux of the Global Financial Crisis, there could not have been a better time to raise the issue of a business structure that generates profit and also serves the society. Bangladesh will be able to achieve an exemplary economic growth rate in the midst of financial crisis, if it can successfully implement public private partnership to facilitate the concept of Social Enterprise.

The first day was moderated jointly by Farooq Sobhan, President, BEI and Aftab Ul Islam, Director FBCCI. Mr. Islam found the workshop to be extremely interesting, especially because it created a forum where members working in different sectors came together and shared their experiences. He applauded BEI for its efforts and hoped for a successful outcome of the workshop. 

Dr. Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and Chairperson, BRAC, presented a keynote speech on the second day of the workshop, preceded by a documentary on BRAC. Dr. Abed believes that Social Enterprise can be both profit and non-profit, and the business models can differ accordingly. In his speech, he focused on the importance of making social enterprise initiatives effective and efficient, with the help of proper management and empowerment of beneficiaries. By giving examples of the ventures that BRAC has gone into since its inception, Dr. Abed shared the process that BRAC has followed in building each of its programs. He said he hoped to build partnership with the private sector in the future, in order to undertake more sustainable endeavors. He ended his speech by making a special request to the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, to extend strong advocacy in the field of tax structure reform that can help facilitate Social Enterprises in the country. Mr. Sobhan BEI happily accepted the request, and said that it would be yet another initiative that BEI and BRAC can undertake together.

During the workshop, experiences and perspectives were shared on three chosen examples of Social Enterprise in Bangladesh; Click Diagnostics, CARE Bangladesh and Grameen Bank’s initiatives. Other speakers included Nasim Manzoor, Managing Director, Apex Adelchi Footwear Ltd. And Suraiya Huq, Executive Director, Phulki.

Craig Wilson, Executive Director, FDC and Peter Wilson, Senior Adviser, Libra Advisory Group conducted interactive exercises with the participants, on both days of the workshop. The exercises brought out perceptions on the strengths and needs of the private sector, NGOs, Civil Society organizations, Government and the Poor. The perceptions were then built upon, in a collaborative manner, to generate ideas for social enterprises that are worth implementing, due to the immense contribution they can make to both the economic growth and agenda of poverty alleviation in Bangladesh.

Representatives from diverse background participated in the workshop. Participants from the private sector include representatives from Multi National Companies like Bangla Link, Uni Lever , Nestle, British American Tobacco, Grameen Phone etc. and representatives from local enterprises like that of Bengal Meat, BASF Bangladesh and Apex Adelchi Footwear Ltd. etc. There was extensive participation from the Public sector, represented by Bangladesh Bank, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industries, Ministry of ICT etc. Representatives from the corporations added valuable input as well.

The workshop ended with a fulfilling and thought provoking open floor discussion. Knowledge and perspective sharing amongst representatives of the private sector and the public sector proved to set the foundation of public private partnership in the future. Concerns regarding government support, political and environmental instability, lack of knowledge on social issues, lack of training of building social enterprises and lack of leadership were expressed.