PKSF's achievement in microenterprise development significant: WB country director
World Bank funded PKSF project helps some 65,000 microenterprises adopt eco-friendly practices, employing some 3,00,000 low-income people
The achievement of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF's) in effective development of microenterprises in Bangladesh is significant, Abdoulaye Seck, the World Bank's country director, said on Sunday.
Speaking as the special guest in the closing ceremony of the WB-funded 'Sustainable Enterprise Project (SEP)' at PKSF Bhaban, he said, "I would like to congratulate PKSF for its unwavering commitment and leadership to complete the project successfully."
Since 2018, the project has helped increase the adoption of environmentally sustainable practices in more than 65,000 microenterprises by providing them with various necessary services including financial, technical, resource development, technology transfer, value chain development, market linkage, and brand development support.
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Abdoulaye Seck said, even if the SEP project ends, the 'Sustainable Microenterprise and Resilient Transformation (SMART)' project will continue.
The PKSF will launch SMART to make microenterprises' production processes and equipment environment-friendly while ensuring green growth of this sector.
On 26 July 2023, the Subsidiary Loan and Grant Agreement (SLGA) of the project was signed after the World Bank approved it three months earlier.
Out of the $300 million estimated cost, the project will receive $250 million from the World Bank and the rest of the money will be borne from the PKSF's own fund.
Farhina Ahmed, secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, said the government is attaching the highest importance to efforts to combat climate change fallout.
"The achievements made through SEP certainly adds to the government's efforts to propel green growth in the country's economy," she said.
PKSF Chairman M Khairul Hossain noted that the SEP-supported microenterprises employed more than 300,000 people across the country, most of whom belong to the low-income groups.
"Thanks to the project's interventions, their living standards have improved. These microenterprises have the potential to continue to expand and create more employment opportunities even after the completion of the project," Hossain added.
Nomita Halder, PKSF managing director, said the SEP is the first-ever microenterprise development project to include the issue of environmental conservation at its core.
To assist the microenterprises of Bangladesh in adopting environment-friendly business practices, PKSF has been implementing the SEP. The World Bank provided $110 million and the PKSF $20 million to the $130 million project.
