​​​​​​​Brac Bank, ITC SheTrades hold webinar for women entrepreneurs

Brac Bank, in association with the ITC SheTrades Commonwealth project, had arranged a webinar for women entrepreneurs on access to fiscal stimulus packages in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The webinar was held on 24 October, virtually, according to a press release.  

The objective was to create awareness and prepare women entrepreneurs for accessing the financial packages announced by the government of Bangladesh to build their resilience in overcoming the challenges caused by the global pandemic.

International Trade Centre (ITC), a joint agency of the World Trade Organisation and the United Nations, organised the webinar, it read.

The ITC SheTrades Commonwealth (STC) project - which is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), invited the women-owned SMEs for the webinar through registration.

BRAC Bank's Senior Manager of Business Transformation in the SME Division, Shajed AL Haque, and Head of TARA, Mehruba Reza, were among the resource persons at the webinar.

The speakers highlighted how the Covid-19 pandemic has forced entrepreneurs, especially women, to face many new challenges, and obligated them into a severe liquidity crisis.

As the government has offered several stimulus packages for different industries and businesses to seize the economic crisis, it is crucial to learn the right processes and proper channels to avail them during this challenging time.

The speakers also discussed how women could take leverage of TARA, a women banking initiative by Brac Bank, to obtain more inclusive access to finance, according to the statement.

Brac Bank was recently named the Access to Finance Champion by the Financial Alliance for Women for championing the Women's Economy agenda through TARA.

The collaboration with ITC will further support the bank to achieve its objectives in empowering the women, it read.