Bangladesh

Projects

Sarathi

Bangladesh is the world’s second largest garment exporter, with the Ready-Made Garment (RMG) sector accounting for over 83% of the country’s exports and contributing approximately 16% to the GDP. The garment industry consists of more than 4,000 RMG factories and employs between four to five million workers of which almost 60% are women. Even though RMG the sector plays such a pivotal role in the economy of Bangladesh, only 34% of it was included in the formal financial system in 2016 when Swisscontact started to work towards the financial inclusion of RMG workers and their community members.

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Supporting Local Democratic Governance and Climate Resilient Public Service Provision in Bangladesh (GO4IMPact)

The GO4IMPact programme will help to make public service delivery in Bangladesh's Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) and Solid Waste Management (SWM) sectors more democratic and climate-resilient by applying the Thinking & Working Politically (TWP) approach, which builds the capacity of relevant actors, improves discourse and promotes participatory and democratic decision-making processes.

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Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation

The Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation is a public-private partnership for trade-led growth, supporting governments in developing and least-developed countries in implementing the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement. By bringing together governments and businesses of all sizes as equal partners to deliver targeted trade reforms, the Alliance cuts through red tape and end costly delays at borders.

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Bangladesh Microinsurance Market Development Project (BMMDP) (Surokkha)

The project supports Bangladeshi farmers address their top risks and lessen their vulnerability to unpredictable weather shocks through the development and application of agriculture and livestock insurance.

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High-quality healthcare services in rural areas

Achieving Sustainability Towards Healthcare Access (ASTHA) aims at contributing to the development and expansion of sustainable and high-quality healthcare at the community level by training young adults (50% women) from seven rural districts as skilled health workers. The ASTHA-project will improve the health and living conditions of the local...

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News

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24.09.2023

Roundtable Discussion: Position of Char in Economic Policies

Stakeholders gathered in Dhaka to discuss the pivotal role of the Char region in Bangladesh's economic future, emphasizing its transformative potential through renewable energy and holistic development.

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21.09.2023

PRABRIDDHI, SGS collaborates to empower local entrepreneurs

PRABRIDDHI, a local economic development (LED) project jointly funded by Switzerland and the Government of Bangladesh, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SGS Bangladesh Ltd to empower local entrepreneurs, strengthen business competitiveness and stimulate sustainable growth. Markus Ehmann, team leader of PRABRIDDHI, and Engr. Abdur Rashid, Country Manager and the President of Switzerland Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries, SGS Bangladesh Limited, signed the MoU at a Dhaka hotel on Wednesday (September 13, 2023).

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20.09.2023

Strengthening resilience to climate risks 

The riverbanks in northern Bangladesh are eroding, constantly changing their course and at the same time, creating new land for settlements. These newly-formed lands are called Chars or islands, and are created by siltation and erosion. Since 2012, Swisscontact has been implementing a project on behalf of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Government of Bangladesh that aims to improve the livelihoods of the Char dwellers by, among other things, mobilising investments from the private and public sector in this important agricultural production zone.

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Country Director Bangladesh

Mujibul (Cezanne) Hasan

Swisscontact in Bangladesh

For 50 years, Swisscontact has delivered projects throughout Bangladesh, addressing systemic constraints and creating pro-poor market systems in skills and enterprise development. These projects resulted in creating thousands of decent jobs and improved livelihood options, food security, youth and women’s economic empowerment, financial inclusion and economic growth.

Besides, Swisscontact incorporates gender equality and social inclusion, environmental responsibility, and good governance across all its projects as sustainability criteria. The organisation operates from a country office based in Dhaka with five additional field offices and employs over 90 long-term national and international staff.

Our partners

Swisscontact South Asia has been successfully working with partners below for implementing projects.

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Katalyst

Improving Business, Improving Lives.

Between 2000 and 2017, Katalyst has benefitted 4.69 million SMEs and farmers with an income increase in USD 689 million. It is the largest market development project in South Asia.

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