BetterStories and Grameenphone co-hosts Singapore tech trade delegation

A trade delegation consisting of C-suite, business owners, decision makers, senior executives from Singapore-based companies joined a networking event hosted by BetterStories Limited and Grameenphone to explore emerging opportunities in the Bangladeshi market on Monday (14 November).

Representatives from Enterprise Singapore (Enterprise SG) and Singapore Business Federation (SBF) organised the delegation to Bangladesh, reads a press release.

The delegation included a host of key people such as Oh Teng How (Dexter), assistant manager, Singapore Business Federation; Sabrina Ho, regional group director (North India and Bangladesh), Enterprise Singapore; Tony Hulton, group director Corporate Affairs and ESG, Daraz Group; Goh Yu Feng, senior product manager, ADERA Global Smart Tech Pte. Ltd.; Kelvin Koh, partner, TSMP Law Corporation; Tianzou Zheng, general manager for Government Relations, BIGO Technologies Pte Ltd.

The event was attended by Startup Founders, Investors and other key ecosystem stakeholders.

Among the startup founders were Waseem Alim, CEO, Chaldal; Kazi M Hassan, country head, Delhivery Bangladesh; Fahreen Hannan, CEO, DhakaCast; Ronika Karmaker, CEO, Lilac; Shubho Al Farooque, CEO, Zantrik;  Walullah Bhuiyan, CEO, Light of Hope; Sayem Faruk, CEO, Airwrk; Mashrur H Shurid, CEO, iPage.

There was a strong presence of the ecosystem supporters, including Sami Ahmed, managing director of Startup Bangladesh Limited; Md Altaf Hossain, project director of Innovation Design and Entrepreneurship Academy (IDEA) Project of the ICT Division; Mamunur Rashid, PWC Bangladesh; Shahwar Nizam, managing partner, DFDL; Farhana Islam, head of Social Impact, Grameenphone Limited; Snehasish Barua, founding partner, Snehasish Mahmud and Co; Farhan Rahman, operations director, SBK Tech Ventures; Nazat Chowdhury, country managing director, South Asia Tech Partners; Syed Javed Nood, deputy director, IDLC Ventures; Jahangir Alam, Group CEO, Bangla Trac Group; Bijon Islam, CEO LightCastle Partners; Tamzid Ahmed, consultant, EDGE Project, BCC, ICT Division; Siddhartho Goshwami, operations team lead, IDEA Project, BCC, ICT Division.

In the last 7 years, the emergence of active angel investment networks, impact investors, local and international accelerators/incubators, development agencies and most importantly government funded grant and VC platforms propelled the startup ecosystem to a turning point. The cumulative impact of this has been a robust ecosystem with 200+ active and growing enterprises which generated 1.5 million direct and indirect employment.

Minhaz Anwar, chief storyteller of BetterStories, in his speech spoke of the importance of convergence, confluence and collaboration among stakeholders.

"Bangladesh turning into a trillion dollar economy by 2035 money is to be made here! With an expansive innovation ecosystem, a couple of themes are emerging - Collaboration, Confluence and Intersection. The Public-Private-Development sectors are all embracing the startup way of design thinking, system approach and rapid prototyping, for example. The future is for us to write together, between Bangladesh and Singapore as we see through the Asian Century."

Sami Ahmed, managing director of Startup Bangladesh Limited,  in his speech spoke of the role Startup Bangladesh Limited is playing within the ecosystem: "From the government's point of view, we are helping the ecosystem by facilitating it to make it more investor friendly and being open to listen on what needs to be done, and where we need to change our policies, so that we make it easier for founders to grow."

Kelvin Koh, partner at TSMP Law Corporation said, "Singapore has seen a huge influx of funds, money, and family offices being set up. There is a lot of interest in investing in not only Singapore but through Singapore to other countries. So one of the main objectives today is to connect with everyone and understand the Bangladeshi market better for future opportunities."

Sabrina Ho, regional group director (North India and Bangladesh) of Enterprise Singapore said, "This is the fifth time we have brought this delegation to Bangladesh, but it is the first time we have a track that is specific to technology. It shows a lot of interest that Singapore has in Bangladesh, especially in terms of technology and innovation. We look forward to doing more with BetterStories and Bangladesh in the future."

Farhana Islam, head of Social Impact, Grameenphone Limited said, "Although Grameenphone Limited is the largest listed company in Bangladesh, the way it rapidly scaled, over the last 25 years, is like a startup. All of us have been working together in collaboration to really make this happen and it;s a country of youth and it is a country where 40% of the population is youth and there is no other way but to collaborate and support them." 

The event has been a melting pot for public, private and development organisations from Singapore and Bangladesh today that are all interested in a technology-driven future. The trade delegation exchanged ideas, opportunities and contacts to build the conversation forward. The delegates and BetterStories look forward to building on the momentum created through this event.