WE Summit-2022 ended: 20 women awarded

The two-day Women and e-Commerce Forum (WE) Summit-2022 has ended with awarding of prizes to the winners.

State Minister for ICT Junaid Ahmed Palak handed over the awards to the winners at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital on Saturday.

This year the award was given to winners in two categories. 

Mehzabin Chowdhury, Prof Saeba Akhtar, Rubaba Dowla, Rubana Haque, Sabina Khatun, Sejyuti Saha, Shami Kaiser, Sonia Bashir Kabir, Anzana Khan Majlis and Ajmeri Haque Bandhan received award for playing important roles at various levels of society.

Besides, Ifat Solaiman Lubna, Mahbooba Akhtar Jahan, Mukta Akhtar, Jyotsna Akhtar Renu, Suraiya Morshed, Sohaib Rumi, Sultana Parveen, Tahiya Sultana Reshmi, Tashfia Trinoy, Razia Sultana were awarded for their contribution in the field of entrepreneurship.

Razia Sultana from Nilpamari district, owner of Nandonik Craft, won the "Exporter of the year" award. She said WE helped her to be a successful entrepreneur.

"After completing my Masters in Philosophy in 2009, I wanted to do something different. WE helped me fulfil the dream and I am financially solvent. At present, I am working with jute products and 12 girls work in my factory. I export my products to Saudi Arabia, Australia, Japan, Canada, Qatar, and Spain," said Razia.

Another entrepreneur Tasfia Trinoy, owner of Trinoy Creation, was acknowledged as a "Rising Star of the year". 

Tasfia said, "I am working with natural beauty cosmetics. My signature product is Rose Powder. I also deliver natural ingredients, including neem leaves, sajne leaves, raw turmeric, fenugreek, amla, etc, to all over Bangladesh." 

"I started this venture with only Tk100. My sales in this year on WE are about Tk lakh," she added.

WE has been working to create women entrepreneurs since 2017. Around four lakh women entrepreneurs across the country have become entrepreneurs through WE.

Project WE-Fi of the World Bank was the main partner of the programme. WE-Fi is a World Bank technical assistance project that works to create market opportunities for women SME entrepreneurs.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and Minister for Freedom Fighters Affairs AKM Mozzammel Haque joined the entrepreneurs in the afternoon session of the first day of the event and lauded the role of WE in women empowerment.