The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Foundation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly promote entrepreneurship development, green production, and employment generation in Bangladesh.

The MoU was signed at the SME Foundation office in Dhaka on Wednesday by Van Nguyen, Resident Representative, UNDP Bangladesh, and Dr. Md. Mafizur Rahman, Managing Director of SME Foundation.

Under the MoU, UNDP and SMEF will jointly arrange entrepreneurship development training at the district and Upazila levels, focusing on women entrepreneurs.

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They will also implement the green entrepreneurship movement in Bangladesh. Moreover, consultations, workshops, seminars, training of trainers, and orientations on skills development and employment generation will be organised.

The partnership aims to address common challenges, achieve sustainable development, and enhance recovery and development efforts in Bangladesh. The SME sector has played a major role in contributing to the economic growth of Bangladesh, and this partnership will further accelerate the sector's growth.

"We are excited to partner with SME Foundation to promote entrepreneurship and green production in Bangladesh. This partnership will help create more opportunities for women entrepreneurs and boost the country's economic growth by ensuring access to finance, digital marketplaces, establishing SME service centres in rural areas, etc.," said Van Nguyen, Resident Representative a.i, UNDP Bangladesh.

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Dr. Md. Mafizur Rahman, Managing Director of SME Foundation, said, "The objective of this partnership is to support CMSME entrepreneurs and to strengthen SME friendly environment in Bangladesh. This partnership may add value in creating awareness on financial inclusion and providing capacity-building training for export readiness, which will help our CMSME entrepreneurs, especially women entrepreneurs, to sustain and contribute to the country's LDC graduation."

Among others, Dr. Md. Masudur Rahman, Chairman SME Foundation, Salah Uddin Mahmud, Deputy Managing Director SME Foundation, Farzana Khan, General Manager of SME Foundation, Kajal Chatterjee, National Project Director of SWAPNO and WING Project, UNDP Bangladesh, Sharmin Islam, Gender Team Leader of UNDP Bangladesh, Sarah Zita, National Consultant of WING project, UNDP Bangladesh, were also present during the signing ceremony.

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