World Bank VP visits PKSF project in Bhairab

The World Bank's Vice President for the South Asia Region Hartwig Schafer has recently visited the footwear microenterprises cluster at Bhairab in Kishoreganj.

Under the Sustainable Enterprise Project (SEP), co-financed by The World Bank, PKSF is supporting the footwear-producing microenterprise cluster in Bhairab where around 200,000 pairs of footwear are manufactured a day. Bhairab is home to more than 10,000 footwear microenterprises, employing over 120,000 people, said a media statement.

Hartwig Schafer and the other member delegates visited SEP supported footwear common service center to support the footwear-producing microenterprises in Bhairab.

Dr Nomita Halder, Managing Director, Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF); Mercy Miyang Tembon, Country Director, The World Bank; and Fazlul Kader, Additional Managing Director, PKSF and other representatives from the government, The World Bank and project-implementing partner organisation of PKSF accompanied him.

They talked to the service providers and have had been explained the services there. Later, they also talked to some of the SEP-supported micro-entrepreneurs.

PKSF Managing Director Nomita Halder said, “In addition to inclusive financing, capacity building, technology transfer, value chain development and other technical services are being provided to help the low-income people to get out from the vicious cycle of low productivity. Additionally, in all its project area, PKSF ensures safe environment for the female workers like what is done in the SEP.”

To assist the microenterprises of Bangladesh in enhancing their marketing and brand development capacity and adopting environmentally sustainable practices, PKSF is implementing the SEP, jointly financed by PKSF and The World Bank with support from the government of Bangladesh.

The total budget of this five-year project is $130 million of which the World Bank and PKSF will finance USD 110 million and USD 20 million respectively.

To implement the project, the lead business clusters, based in the lead sub-sectors of the agribusiness and manufacturing sectors, are provided financial and technical support. A total of 64 sub-projects have been undertaken from 30 different sub-sectors under the project.