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‘Share Your Stories’:  B-SkillFUL and Truvalu provide a platform for independent businesses to share their success stories

Bangladesh
Upskilling and Reskilling, Labour market insertion
31.05.2023
"Share Your Story" showcased how micro, small and medium size enterprises (MSMEs) tackled challenges brought on by the pandemic and economic downturn with support from B-SkillFUL Programme Phase II.

The Building Skills for Unemployed and Underemployed Labour (B-SkillFUL) Programme in collaboration with Truvalu.enterprises Limited, hosted an event titled "Share Your Stories" on Tuesday, 30th May 2023 at Lakeshore Hotel Gulshan.

The event was organised to showcase how micro, small and medium size enterprises (MSMEs) tackled challenges brought on by the pandemic and economic downturn. The event fostered collaboration and knowledge-sharing by facilitating networking opportunities amongst the MSMEs, financial institutions, business development service providers, development partners, and other stakeholders.

Recognising how MSMEs employ over 40% of the workforce and contribute over 25% to the country’s GDP, Switzerland partnered with Swisscontact and Truvalu to provide support to enterprises on improving their efficiency through better business operations and skilled workforce. The partnership with Truvalu focused on facilitating access to finance to mostly those MSMEs who never availed loans, introducing them to the formal banking system.   

In his speech, Mr. Mujibul Hasan, Country Director of Swisscontact stated, “It is truly inspiring how efficiently MSMEs adopted systemic and operational transformation offered by both of B-SkillFUL and COVID-19 Recovery Project. As Bangladesh is approaching the milestone of graduating from a least-developed country to a developing one by 2026, it becomes imperative to prioritise the integration of the informal economy sectors and private sectors into our country's overall business ecosystem.”

Sharawwat Islam, Managing Director, Truvalu.enterprises Limited expressed her gratitude towards Swisscontact, the Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh for their relentless support to weather the storm of this pandemic and continue to uplift MSMEs towards a brighter tomorrow for both economic returns and social impact.

"SMEs in Bangladesh are the backbone of the economy. They employ 40% of the country’s workforce. Supporting them to recover and further grow, building on their creativity and resilience, is making sure that no one is left behind."
Ms Henchoz Pignani, Deputy Head of Cooperation, Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh

At the event, SGS Bangladesh, a strategic partner of the B-SkillFUL Programme, presented its experience of working with MSMEs in quality management and ISO 9001:2015 certification. Mr Abdur Rashid, Country Manager, SGS, handed out the certificates to the MSMEs.

Bangladesh
Upskilling and Reskilling, Labour market insertion
Building Skills for Unemployed and Underemployed Labour
B-SkillFUL aims to improve the well-being of poor and disadvantaged men and women by increasing their access to labour market and income, while safeguarding their fundamental rights at work.Almost 2 million workers join the labour force every year in Bangladesh settling mostly in the informal sector given their lack of relevant skills. However, the...
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