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Bangladesh Bank has received 18,444 applications from aspiring young entrepreneurs in eight districts under its ‘Uddyog’ programme, which aims to identify promising entrepreneurs at the upazila level and create jobs through financing.
The central bank will expand the programme to all upazilas in the remaining 56 districts from November 1, with applications to be accepted until November 30.
Bangladesh Bank disclosed the information in a press release on Saturday.
In the first phase, applications were accepted from September 16 to October 15 in all 64 upazilas of Manikganj, Feni, Naogaon, Jhenaidah, Bhola, Habiganj, Rangpur and Netrokona districts.
Netrokona recorded the highest number of applications at 5,351, followed by Rangpur with 2,745, Naogaon with 2,456, Jhenaidah with 2,191, Habiganj with 1,552, Bhola with 1,545, Manikganj with 1,343 and Feni with 1,261.
Under the next phase, interested young entrepreneurs in the remaining 56 districts can submit applications to any scheduled bank branch in their respective upazilas from November 1 to November 30.
Application forms can be downloaded from the Bangladesh Bank website, its SME portal and the websites of scheduled banks.
The policy guidelines for the programme were issued on September 13 through SME and Special Programmes Department (SMESPD) Circular No. 05. The guidelines are available on the central bank’s website at www.bb.org.bd and its SME portal.
The programme, titled ‘Uddyog: Upazila-based Young Entrepreneur Search, Identification and Financing Programme’, seeks to identify genuine and promising young entrepreneurs across the country and provide them with financing to generate employment.
Bangladesh Bank expects the initiative to contribute to economic development, promote innovation and encourage greater participation of young people in entrepreneurship. The central bank has also called for active cooperation from all concerned to ensure the programme’s successful implementation.