Experts urge govt to encourage youth to be entrepreneurs

Akash Ghosh dreamt of becoming an entrepreneur after enrolling at the National University in Dhaka, where he saw many of his seniors earn through freelancing.

This encouraged the 26-year-old to take a three-month training course on digital marketing at BASIS Institute of Technology and Management in 2018 when he was a computer science and engineering student at Shaikh Burhanuddin Post Graduate College.

“I launched my company ‘Technocastles’ and started working on google ranking and social media marketing,” he said.

“Our clients are from the USA, UK, Germany, France and Italy,” he said. Although freelancing is a potential sector in Bangladesh, a lack of guidelines and skills prevent many from engaging here.

“We urge the government to launch PayPal for international and not to impose taxes on freelancing. We have to face various problems during money transactions. I once lost $1,200 for not having the service in Bangladesh,” he added.

The government says there are around 6,50,000 freelancers in the country and estimates the sector to be nearly $1 billion.

Many youth are also becoming entrepreneurs in sectors like agriculture, ride-sharing service and SME.

“Many young men and women are engaging in the agriculture sector after graduation. It is a positive sign. But most of them are unskilled and inexperienced,” Coordinator of Prakritik Krishi Biponon Kendro Delowar Jahan said.

Delowar engaged in agriculture activities after graduating from a public university. He is farming organic agro items on 6.5 bighas in Manikganj.

“I came in the agriculture sector to ensure the rights of farmers as they are deprived in many ways,” he added.

He said his teams were working in 16 districts. “I collect agricultural products from the districts and store them at Prakritik Krishi Biponon Kendro in the capital before selling them to customers. The youth should come forward to provide safe foods to the country’s people,” he added.

Delowar urged the government to encourage the youth to become entrepreneurs. “Fresh entrepreneurs should learn more before engaging in business,” he added. Economists suggested the government provide proper training and finance to the youth to turn them into successful entrepreneurs.

Chairman of Policy Exchange of Bangladesh Dr M Masrur Reaz urged the government to encourage the youth to become entrepreneurs.

“As the Covid-19 has created economic challenges and unemployment in the country, the youth should be encouraged to become entrepreneurs. Youth-led start-ups should be taught proper management, local and global market information, and market linkage for becoming successful,” the economist said.

He underscored proper finance, modern technologies, innovative ideas and a small business ecosystem for start-ups.

“Every year, over two million youth enter the job market. We are unable to provide jobs for all. On the other hand, an entrepreneur can contribute more to GDP than a job holder,” he added.

Economist Mohammad Shahjahan Siddiqui urged the government to provide proper training to the youth to create more entrepreneurs. “Different state-run agencies provide training but they are not enough. Those who receive training can’t become entrepreneurs due to a lack of funding. So the agencies should arrange funds for budding entrepreneurs,” he said.

He also urged the agencies to encourage banks to provide loans to the youth who undergo entrepreneurship training.

“According to Bangladesh Institute for Development Studies, some 66 per cent of the students who graduated from the National University are unemployed. Many of them can become entrepreneurs if they get proper training and funds,” the economist said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently advised the youth to become entrepreneurs instead of running after jobs.

Talking to The Business Post, Chairman of Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) Md Mostaque Hassan said they have a master plan to turn the youth into entrepreneurs.

“Many youth lost jobs due to the pandemic last year and a lot of them are unemployed. Now we train the youth and provide them loans at lower interest rates to become entrepreneurs,” he said.

According to BSCIC, the organisation trained 16,553 people and 8,803 on entrepreneurship development as well as 7,750 on skill development in FY20-21.

Hassan said they would create over 10 million entrepreneurs by 2041.

“We have increased trainings and loan facilities for fresh entrepreneurs after the coronavirus outbreak. We also wrote to the finance ministry and Bangladesh Bank for more loans to create entrepreneurs,” he added.