A year-long training programme to equip women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh with soft skills began in Dhaka on Wednesday.

The ‘All About Soft Skills’ training series was inaugurated on Wednesday by State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak and Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka, Vikram Doraiswami.

The High Commission of India is organising the training programme in association with Ministry of ICT, Government of Bangladesh, Women & E-commerce and SilkOak Global Ltd, a financial advisory service.

The training programme is part of the ‘50 years of Bangladesh’ celebrations as well as the ‘75 years of Indian independence’ celebrations, ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’. 

This will be run in a hybrid manner with physical workshops and virtual learning elements. It is aimed at supporting women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, by offering them useful skills to facilitate their business efforts.

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NM Zeaul Alam PAA, Senior Secretary to ICT Division, participated in the opening ceremony as well. 

Nasima Akhter Nisha, Founder & President of Women & E-commerce (WE) and Saumya Basu, CEO & President of SilkOak Global Ltd attended the event as co-organisers of the training series. 

Tareen Hossain, Executive Editor of Ittefaq.com.bd and Pranab Saha, Chief News Editor of DBC News, also participated in the inaugural ceremony.

State Minister Palak wished all the participants well and appreciated the design of the hybrid training programme which would help women entrepreneurs across Bangladesh. 

On his part, High Commissioner Doraiswami emphasised the priority India attaches to supporting authentic efforts within Bangladesh to equip skills to the dynamic women entrepreneur’s community in Bangladesh. 

He said that the soft skill development training programme will be conducted throughout the year to help participants develop their communication skills, presentation skills, and will therefore be beneficial to their business activities. 

Doraiswami also announced that the High Commission of India will support the establishment of the ‘Ishwara Chandra Vidyasagar Library' by ‘Women & E-commerce’ on their premises through the donation of books and e-readers. 

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Doraiswami welcomed the establishment of this library, named after the great Bengali social reformer, as a tribute to one of their shared icons. 

The first training programme of the ‘All About Soft Skills’ series is slated for Thursday. 

Over 700 women entrepreneurs are expected to avail the training programme, which is being supported by Daily Ittefaq and DBC News.