Project taken to support formalising informal workers, enterprises

The National Association of Small and Cottage Industries of Bangladesh is implementing a pilot project to formalise the informal workers and enterprises under the CMSME sector.

Under the pilot project titled “Advocacy and Training Programme for Entrepreneurs and Informal Workers to Encourage Formalisation and Decent Work Amid Covid-19”, the NASCIB has already trained 200 entrepreneurs and 300 workers in Gazipur, Narsingdi, Savar, Tangail, Chuadanga, Rangamati, Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Sylhet, and Rangpur.

The Japanese government is funding the Tk 50 lakh pilot project through the International Labor Organization to support Bangladesh’s efforts to formalise the informal economy. The project will continue till December this year. It is a part of Japanese contributions to South Asia for the same cause.

Alongside Bangladesh, the project will also be carried out in India, Nepal, and Pakistan for supporting the ongoing efforts of workers and employers to organise workers. It will also support economic units in vulnerable situations with a focus on worker’s rights, especially women workers, and supporting them to protect their livelihood and prepare for a better future.

While launching a training event on formalisation and decent work in informal enterprises in Narsingdi recently as the chief guest NASCIB President Mirza Nurul Goni Shovon said Bangladesh is the first country to train employers and workers on the ‘Importance of Formalisation and Decent Work to Facilitate the Increased Production and Sustainability of the Enterprises’ under the supervision of ILO.

This training will help informal entrepreneurs to know different dimensions of business formalisation, benefits, challenges, and the importance of decent work in their businesses, he added.

Such training will turn the entrepreneurs proactive in formalisation and implement a decent work environment at their enterprises which will contribute to increasing their production capacity, said Md Habibur Rahman, president of Narsingdi Press Club, who attended the event as a special guest.

Md Mosleh Uddin Sadeque, the national consultant of ILO PRS and STRIDE Projects, also attended the event as a special guest with KM Rustom Ali, director and president of Narsingdi district unit NASCIB, in the chair.