EMK Center, ULAB hold dialogue on entrepreneurship 

Focusing on the importance of the boot camps, incubators and accelerator programs for the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the way forward for Bangladesh EMK Center in collaboration with University of Liberal Arts (ULAB) hosted a virtual session on Wednesday. 

Despite Bangladesh ranking 168th among 190 countries in ease of doing business index, there has been a huge proliferation of accelerators across Bangladesh over the past few years, said a press release. 

The event, 'Boot Camps for Entrepreneurs: Developing an effective and sustainable framework', was part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week observation. 

Special Advisor to the Board of Trustees at ULAB Prof Imran Rahman underscored the importance of linking up industry and education. 

"Our traditional educational system creates is not very supportive of the entrepreneurs. The boot camp and entrepreneurship teaching programs here can contribute a lot to teach the requires to the entrepreneurs. This is an excellent opportunity to bridge the gap between academia and industry," he said.

The Resolution Project CEO George Tsiatis discussed the definitions of different aspects of entrepreneurship. 

"Bootcamp follows an integrated curriculum of entrepreneurship. Incubator is where entrepreneurs start. Accelerator is about creating space to speed up," he noted. 

He also highlighted the scale of his organisation. "At Resolution, we work with over 100 organisations in partnerships to create startups. Our key focus is strategic partnership," Tsiatis added. 

Grameenphone Head of Innovation & startup ecosystem Farhana Islam said under the GP Accelerator programme this year, special focus was given on inclusivity and half of the startups were female-led.

ULAB Assistant Professor Asif Uddin Ahmed while moderating said EMK has STEM hub, entrepreneurship and employability interventions. 

"In our upcoming years, we will focus mainly to create models for other relevant actors in these sectors. Ecosystem mapping will be our second objective in 2021 and 2022. Lastly, we will work to develop modules for the entrepreneurship development organizations and for the boot camp designers. To achieve these, partnerships will be a key focus for us," he added.

US Embassy Regional Public Engagement Specialist (REPS) for South Asia Mark Burrell noted that youths in the region have the potential and dedication to stand globally. 

The session was attended by 60 entrepreneurs, educators and trainers. The Business Standard was the media partner of the event.