ISSN: 2079-567X

Banglavision

Vol. 13 No. 1 January 2014

Socio-Economic Impacts of Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh:

Challenges and Anticipations
Dr. Md. Selim Reza
Md. Abu Issa Gazi
Md. Asaf-Ud- Doula
Abstract
This study emphasized on women entrepreneurs and related issues for achieving
economic independence and womens empowerment and also the potentiality of the
women in national economy in Bangladesh. This article focuses major challenges
that obstruct smooth development of women entrepreneurs and socio-demographic
profile of women entrepreneurs. Secondary data were used. The researchers have
meticulously reviewed the relevant credentials and literatures. The study tried to
explore the social perspectives of women entrepreneurs, their conditions and position
in family. Overall perception of women entrepreneurs about existing business
environment were also tried to discover through this study. It was also conducted to
come up with recommendations and suggestions to address existing problems to
promote a hassle free business enterprise. This study conveys the message that if the
women are provided with appropriate training and need-based financial and related
assistance, they will enter into the entrepreneurial occupation in a large number and
will prove their worth to contribute to the economy of Bangladesh. Both the
government organizations and private sector have a major responsibility to promote
entrepreneurship development for women. Without their interventions the
advancement of women and women entrepreneurship cannot be achieved.
Keywords: Women Entrepreneurs, Women Entrepreneurship, Women Empowerment SME
Entrepreneurs, GOs and NGOs, BSCIC, CWCCI, NAYE, WASME, Grameen Bank, ASA,
Small Enterprise etc.

Associate Professor, Department of Accounting, Govt. Debendra College, Manikgonj.

Senior Lecturer, Peoples University of Bangladesh.

Assistant Professor, School of Business, Bangladesh Open University, Gazipur.

Socio-Economic Impacts of Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh

39

1. Introduction
Existing sex ratio in demographic structure of Bangladesh indicates that women comprise
almost 50% of the total population (BBS, 2006). They are essential part of nations human
resources. Due to this demographic structure, the issue of the participation of women in the
mainstream economy is imperative. Without a meaningful and active participation of women,
half of the total population, in regular economic activities, a dynamic and sustainable
economy is impossible. A sustainable economy is a precondition for national growth and
prosperity including institutionalization of a democratic system. It is also impossible to
achieve the target of a poverty-free society without incorporation of women in the
mainstream economy. Womens economic empowerment is an inevitable part of
development discourse. Excluding women from the mainstream development program,
institutionalization of a sustainable development process is just unthinkable. It is inspiring to
mention here that a new womans entrepreneurs class is increasingly emerging each year
taking on the challenge to work in a male-dominated, competitive and complex economic
and business environment (BWCCI, 2008).
Bangladesh is a resource-limited and overpopulated country where society is highly
stratified, services and opportunities are determined by gender, class and location. However,
women make nearly half of the population which means huge potential to be utilized for
socio-economic development of the country. Development and enrichment of women
entrepreneurship are the means of promoting national competitiveness and sustainability. Its
represent the individual and community level initiative and contribution towards the greater
national economy, poverty alleviation models pursued by both the GOs and NGOs consider
the above mentioned phenomenon as one of the prior sector of intervention. Bangladesh is
one of the countries, which rectified the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Constitution of Bangladesh also grants equal
rights to women and men in all spheres of public life [Article 28(1), and 28(3). The
Constitution also keeps an obligation for the state to ensure womens active and meaningful
participation in all spheres of public life (Article-10). Half of the population of Bangladesh is
female and it is very important to engage this segment in greater development of the nation.
For this reason, policies need to be made, with the existing one, to avail the utmost
opportunities. SME entrepreneurship is a vital sector to emphasize by the concerns to
develop the women in contributing the individual, national and thus international arena.
Government of Bangladesh has identified 32 thrust sectors and thus has been formulating
policies for development (Raihan and Haque, 2009). The major initiatives undertaken by the
Government so far include the establishment of a separate ministry on womens affairs, the
formulation of the National Policy for Advancement of Women in 2008, and the National
Action Plan (which was prepared in response to the Beijing Platform for Action). The
Government has also formed a National Women Small and Medium Enterprise (SME)
Forum under the SME Foundation of the Ministry of Industry to promote womens
participation in formal economic sectors. Bangladeshs Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
(PRSP), which is now the main document for Bangladeshs national development, also
incorporated some noteworthy issues to ensure womens participation in social and economic
life. The industrial and SME policies of 2005 have emphasized women entrepreneurship
development, particularly in the SME sector (BWCCI, 2008).

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It is inspiring that a new women entrepreneurs class is increasingly emerging in

Bangladesh by taking the challenge of working in a male-dominated, competitive and
complex economic and business environment (Brush and Hisrich, 1999). Bangladesh with its
existing human resource endowment can propitiate development process. Entrepreneurship is
an imperative to spur this process .Enterprise initiative with virtual qualities can accelerate
the industrialization process. For this, w0men workforce may be motivated by policy
interventions. This paradox should contain the attributes of enterprise initiative by the
women workforce. The important proponents of the policy paradigm may be the following:

Development of entrepreneurial skill through training and capacity building;

Venture capital and technological support for project launching;

Counseling service for enterprise management and marketing of products/ services;

Policy provisions to support the women entrepreneurs.

Create friendly and favorable socio economic environment for women entrepreneurs
development;

2. Objectives of the Study:

The goal of the study is to search out how to bring the most unutilized potential women
entrepreneurs under formal economic activity to promote the economic development and at
the same time enable their social, political and economic empowerment and improve their
overall situation. The objectives of this research are as follows:

To understand the perspectives of both the potential and existing women entrepreneurs
about the issue;

Liberate, reform and modernize the society through economic empowerment of women;

To assess the socio economic conditions and impact of women entrepreneurs as well as
barriers in starting and operating women-run enterprises;

To identify the challenges and prospects regarding women entrepreneurship; and

To recommend and suggest preparing an economic policy measures to promote a genderfriendly business environment for women entrepreneurs.
3. Methodology:
This study is descriptive in nature. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods
adopting participatory data collection processes were applied to explore information from
different sources. Secondary data are used to analysis the findings in qualitative manner. For
relevant secondary data from reputed journals, books, annual reports, government policies,
CCCI, CWCCI, Publication from Finance Ministry, MIDAS, BSCIC, WEA, WEAB, DCCI
and World Bank, UNDP publications and study papers was collected. In depth interviews
were conducted with some women entrepreneurs to have the overall scenario. The study, in
fact, follows the method of descriptive analysis on related issue of women entrepreneur and
development issue in the context of Bangladesh.

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41

4. Literature Review
Women entrepreneurship has been playing a pivotal role in terms of economic growth
employment generation and industrialization. Although the role of women entrepreneurship
is different at different stages of economic development, their role is particularly important
for developing countries. The following studies focus on various issues related to
entrepreneurship and the socio economic environment in Bangladesh.
In a recent study (Chowdhury, 2008) the author emphasized on the problems faced by the
women entrepreneurs and some of these are in terms of resource, marketing, raw materials,
utility services, infrastructure, official formalities and so forth. Another study (Rahman,
2008) stated that the technological advancement in terms of ICT is the solution of the female
entrepreneurs. Ahmed (2008) analyzed the governmental policies to elevate the overall
scenario of the women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. Nawazesh (2007), in her research, has
revealed that female entrepreneurs belief that entrepreneurs are made, not born In a nut shell
it can be said that in starting and operating women-run enterprises, the women faced many
problems. The overall scenario can be drawn as follows. They are isolated, disadvantaged,
believe in fate and luck, beyond education opportunities, remain out of employment
opportunities, have no savings, out of supporting niches of the NGOs, extreme poor standing
keep them away from edges and so forth. Mazumder and Choudhury (2001) suggest that
there has been need for an Entrepreneurship Development Institute. Though the authors cited
the overall problems of managing SMEs, they do not provide any specific problems for
women entrepreneurs. They also provide limited suggestion for the removal of problems and
development of SMEs. Karim (2001) points out that illiteracy excludes women entrepreneurs
almost totally from entrepreneurship as they have fewer possibilities to access information
through which they could identify and assess different entrepreneurial opportunities. Also,
their relative ability to exploit an opportunity is severely hampered. Not being able to read,
write and count subjects an individual to two risks: first, a higher probability of being
financially exploited by others and second, a higher probability of having to operate in the
informal sector. Afsar (2008), who collected information from various disbursement reports
of the Bangladesh
Bank, observed that up to December 2007, six financial institutions have disbursed and
refinanced Tk. 3.9 million (about US$56,000) to women entrepreneurs. Comparing this
amount to the total SME funds of Tk. 6.2 billion (about US$90 million), funding for women
entrepreneurs appears highly insignificant (only .06 percent). Nawaz (2009) analyzes a
variety of critical factors of women entrepreneurship development in rural Bangladesh. She
depicts an analytical framework based on institutional theory, which focuses on three kinds
of factors: regulative, normative, and cognitive. Regulative factors refer to different rules and
regulations of the Government that facilitate women entrepreneurship development in rural
Bangladesh. Normative and cognitive factors include norms, rules, regulation, and values of
society. Based on the analysis of these factors, Nawaz provides various policy implications
on how to improve women entrepreneurship development in rural Bangladesh.

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5. Conceptual Framework
Entrepreneurship can be defined as the process of using private initiatives to transform a
business concept into a new venture or to grow or diversify an existing venture or enterprise.
Women entrepreneurs, for the purpose of this study, can be defined as women running their
own SMEs within the formal or informal sector.
Figure : Conceptual Framework

Women Entrepreneurship
Education
Training
Age
Source of finance
Initial investment
Duration of business
Monthly returns
Use of profit

Social Impact
Upgrade social status
Improved decision making ability
Establish womens rights
Create self-dependency
Eradicate gender discrimination
Self inspiration
Pass leisure time

Economic Impact
Extra income for the family
Economic freedom
Self employment
Economic development
Creating employment opportunity

Source: Authors Framework

The framework of this study depicts influences of women entrepreneurship on the social and
economic arena. Women entrepreneurship depends on the variables such as source of capital,
initial investment, training, education Karim (2001) age, business duration and monthly
returns. Women entrepreneurship has a direct and positive impact on womens social status,
womens rights, self dependency, the eradication of gender discrimination, and self
inspiration. At the same time, it has a great impetus on the socio-economic sphere as it helps
women earning extra money for the family, enjoying economic freedom, creating
employment opportunities for themselves and others, and gearing up the process of economic
development. This study will try to establish the relationship between women
entrepreneurship and its impacts on the socio-economic sphere of life. In this research
women entrepreneurship and its socio-economic impact were respectively identified as
independent and dependent variables on the basis of a causal relationship (C. A AlHossienie,2011).
6. Woman Entrepreneurship Development in Bangladesh
It is important to note that nearly half of the total populations in Bangladesh are females. In
more specific, the female entrepreneurs deserve special attention to foster, promote, and
persuade economic growth. In developing countries, the role of various NGOs like BRAC,
Proshika, ASA, Swanirvar etc. for woman entrepreneurship are well-known. They provide
support services mainly to the rural women in income generating activities.

Socio-Economic Impacts of Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh

43

These organizations successfully make Problems of Woman Entrepreneurship Development

in Bangladesh: A Case Study of RAKUB Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 20 (3): 605 - 614
(2012) 605 arrangements for finance, training for income generating projects, assisting in
marketing their products, providing educational facilities, raising consciousness and building
up self-confidence among the rural womenfolk. In developing the rural woman
entrepreneurship, the role of various NGOs is strongly felt in every nook and corner of the
country (Pervin & Akther,
2001). Today, there are several NGOs contributing to entrepreneurship development in the
country. The major ones are the National Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs (NAYE), the
World Assembly of Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (WASME) Rural Development and
Self Employment Training Institute (RUDSETIs). In Bangladesh, the impact of micro credit
on poverty alleviation is limited, despite its fame. Hashemi (1998) argues that although micro
credit in Bangladesh through Grameen Bank, BRAC,PROSHIKA, ASA and other
Governmental and Nongovernmental agencies has succeeded in reaching a quarter of all poor
rural households, poverty still persists. One major reason for this may be the limits to micro
credit in effectively targeting all of the poor, specifically in leaving out large sections of the
hardcore poor, the distressed (Khandker, 1998; Hashemi, 1998; Kabeer, 1998; Johnson &
Rogaly, 1997). In order to build up woman entrepreneurship on a small scale in the rural
areas of Bangladesh, the role of Grameen Bank (GB) is unique. It is true that GB is engaged
in bringing dramatic changes and improvements in the socio-economic condition of the rural
Bangladesh by providing credit through its non-traditional credit delivery system. In fact, GB
has been successful in developing entrepreneurship among the women in villages. Probably,
GB is the only coveted financial institution which can claim continued rate of recovery of
their loan at 98%. In a free market economy, the role of commercial banks or commercial
bank in developing entrepreneurship is always very important. In the case of development of
woman entrepreneurship, the role of such banks is equally important. Therefore, the role
played by banks and financial institutions for the development of entrepreneurship among
women is still not seen in a large scale (Pervin& Akther, 2001). Most of the literature and
studies on the development of entrepreneurship among women provided credit by NGOs.
7. Policies and Programs Encouraging and Supporting Women Entrepreneurship
According to the Bangladeshs demographic structure the total population consists of 50%
women. But they constitute a very negligible proportion of the total entrepreneurs only 10%
of the total business entrepreneur in Bangladesh. Entrepreneurial traits and competencies
have not been well developed amongst the women entrepreneurs. They are the neglected
sections in the society. The much low literacy rate 31.8%, low work participation rate 26%
and low urban population share 10% of women as compared to 53.9%, and 54% respectively
of their male counterpart well confirm their precarious position in the society(Afiya
Sultana,2012). The importance of women entrepreneurs in the national development process
has been acknowledged by successive governments and steps initiated to realize these
objectives. Consequently, under successive Five-Year-Plans, womens development
initiatives have been gradually integrated into the macro framework and multisectoral
economy to bring women into the mainstream of economic development and encourage
potential women entrepreneurs realizing their business plans.

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In all Development Plans, from the First to the last i.e. the Fifth-Five-Year-Plan,
development of women in all spheres of our national life has been given priority
considerations. The First Five Year Plan (1973-78), as for example, emphasized a welfareoriented approach and focused on rehabilitation of war-affected women and children. The
Two-Year-Plan (1978-80) was characterized by a shift from welfare to development efforts.
The Second Five Year Plan (1980-85) emphasized creating a congenial atmosphere for
womens increased participation in development through expanding opportunities for skill
development, credit and entrepreneurship development program. The Third-Five-Year-Plan
(1985-1990) had specific objectives to reduce disparity between development of men and
women. The
Fourth-Five-Year-Plan (1990-95) placed women within the context of macro framework with
multi-sectoral thrust and focused more on the development of poor and disadvantaged
women.
In the Fifth-Five-Year-Plan (1997-2002) as many as 24 goals and objectives are set for
development of women and children in the country. These goals and objectives if
implemented properly will definitely contribute with the participation of women in every
sphere of our national life.
Table 1: Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by the year of the
establishment of their enterprises;
Year of
Percentage Cumulative
Establishment
Percentage
1977
1.1
1.1
1982
2.1
3.2
1990
1.1
4.3
1992
3.2
7.5
1993
2.1
9.6
1994
1.1
10.7
1997
5.3
16.0
1999
1.1
17.1
2000
13.8
30.9
2001
2.1
33.0
2002
10.6
43.6
2003
10.6
54.2
2004
7.4
61.6
2005
8.5
70.1
2006
14.9
85.0
2007
15.0
100
Total
100
Source: Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI) 2008, P: 19

Socio-Economic Impacts of Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh

45

During 1990s, government and non-government bodies have paid increasing attention to
women entrepreneurs through formulation of various policies and programs and introduction
of new schemes and incentives. It adopted a multi-disciplinary approach for development of
women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs were given top priority for implementation of
programs under agricultural and its allied activities of dairy farming, poultry, handicrafts and
small scale industries, etc. Women were given priorities in all the sectors including small
scale industries sector. In view of the need to bring the rural womenfolk in the development
stream of the economy, the government, the NGOs and others related agencies have provided
ample opportunities to promote entrepreneurial skill among women. As a result, the number
of women entrepreneurs has increased over the years. It is evident from the above data of the
year of establishment of enterprises in the sample were established between the years 20002007. That indicating women are gradually interested in self employed business and
entrepreneurial activities. It also indicating that womens visibility in economic sector is
increasing.
8. Analysis
8.1 Foretaste of Women Entrepreneur Scenario in Bangladesh
Bangladesh is an overpopulated country with limited resources and higher social
stratification. Economic, political and social recognition are determined on the basis of
gender, class and location (WED, 2001). Turban areas have greater opportunities for business
development while rural areas lag behind. Nearly half of the populations are women (sex
ratio 106). The enormous potentiality of the population has been unutilized as few women
participate in the mainstream of economic activities. For instance, only 16% of women are
self-employed out of 66% self-employed citizen (based on entrepreneurship status).
Encouragingly, there is a rising of a new class in rural Bangladesh, they are the women
entrepreneurs who have accepted the challenges of life and have emerged as leaders in the
socio-economic development, thus earning for themselves and for their families and
contributing towards the socio-political upliftment of women. Consequently,
entrepreneurship has become an important profession among women in both rural and urban
areas. Women in rural areas are being self-employed through the agricultural and
nonagricultural sector, as entrepreneurs (L. Parvin, J Jinrong and M. W. Rahman,2012).
These activities are cropping, livestock and poultry rearing, fish farming, nursery and tree
planting, tool making, handcrafting, food processing, tailoring, rice processing, etc.
Nevertheless, it is very difficult to quantify the contribution of micro, small and medium
enterprises (MSMEs), particularly estimation of the contribution of women due to lack of
available data. Alam and Miyagi (2004) reported that MSMEs contribute Tk. 741 billion
(US$10.15 billion), which is equivalent to 20 to 25% of gross domestic product (GDP).
About 40% of the populations (above 15 years old) are employed in this sector in both rural
and urban areas. The International Consulting Group (ICG) comprehensive survey in 2003;

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Table 2. Summary of micro, small and medium enterprise definition in Bangladesh

Types of enterprise
Types
of Employees
Capital
Loan size
industry
Microenterprise

Commerce and Mainly family

service,
members
manufacturing,
transportation
and construction
etc

Less than
Tk. 1 million

Small enterprise

Commerce and Less than 25

service,
workers
manufacturing,
transportation
and construction
etc.

Less than
Tk. 50,000 to
Tk,
15 5 million
million

Medium enterprise

Commerce and 25 to
service,
workers
manufacturing,
transportation
and construction
etc.

100 Tk. 15 to
100 million

Av.
bank
loans- Tk.
408,081, and
MFIs
Tk.
38,250

5 million and
above

. Source: Bangladesh Bank (2010), MIFA (2009)

8.2Contribution Women entrepreneurs
In the Bangladesh Economic Review (2008) it is observed that in small and cottage industry
sector, the contribution is tk. 16090.9 crore with 8.25% rate of increase. From medium to
large industry sector, the amount is tk. 39142.4 crore with 7.22% rate of increase. Then the
total is tk. 55233.33 crore and combined rate of increase is 7.52%. According to World Bank
report (1999), 65% of the total employment in Dhaka was in the urban informal sector and
SMEs employ ten times more than that of the heavy industry sector. The 2003 National
Private Sector Survey of Enterprises in Bangladesh co-financed by US Agency for
International Development (USAID), reveals that the SMEs employ around 30 million
people and contributes 25% to the GDP.
However, since small in size and infant in appearance, these SMEs are not in a formal
manner in their operations. They are in lack of proper technology, skills, funds and market
linkage and mostly run in such inefficient manner that in majority of the cases resources are
not utilized optimally and opportunities are missed frequently to make them more
competitive. Hence to work with SMEs and for pragmatic and comprehensive policy making
and effective implementation of such policies, it is very important to understand its
operational, technical, marketing, financial, and more importantly socio-cultural dynamics
that shape their work environment, productivity and market reach.

Socio-Economic Impacts of Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh

47

Table 03: The contribution in manufacturing sector

Industry

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

Small and
Cottage
Industry

11496.5

12408.5

13551.5

14865.1

16090.9

Medium
to Large
Industry

27572.3

29860.5

33268.2

36507.1

39142.4

Total

39068.8

42269.0

46819.7

51372.2

55233.3

60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0

Small and
Cottage Industry
Medium to Large
Industry
20 20 20 20 20
03- 04- 05- 06- 0704 05 06 07 08

Total

Source: The Economic Review, 2008; the amount is in crore taka

In Bangladesh, around 10% of the total business entrepreneurs are women but in advanced
countries, the percentage raises up to 25. Though men and women ratio is 53:50, in business
it is very less in term of women entrepreneurs. In one study (Morshed, 2008), it is found that
female participation has increased considerably in service sector and wholesale and retailing
sector over the years. Morshed (2008) again stated that becoming an entrepreneur is an
evaluation of encountering, assessing, and reacting to a series of experiences, situations and
events produced by political, economic, social and cultural changes.
8.3 Government policies:
There are some policies which are the output of the governments decisions. Ministry of
Social Welfare and some other concern ministries have increased the allocation in an
excellent manner up to 2008.
Table 04: Governments allocation in concern ministries
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
1152
1353
1468
2028
713
Source: The Economic Review, 2008; the amount is in crore taka
2500
2000
1500

Series1

1000
500
0
2003- 2004- 2005- 2006- 200704
05
06
07
08

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Table 5: Contribution to GDP by women entrepreneurs.

Particulars

Total contribution
to GDP (in million
Tk.)

Percent of
total
contribution

Agriculture

4993.71

18

Fishing

94.28

Manufacturing

1397.36

50

Construction

75.38

Wholesale, retail trade

4227.38

15

Hotels, restaurants

2370.61

Transport, storage and

communications

327.72

Real estate, renting and

business activities,
education

514.19

Health and social work

338.15

Other services

308.54

Total

14309.17

100

Source: Daniels (2003) Figure 05: Governments allocation in concern ministries

9. Impact Women Entrepreneurs in Socio Economic Arena
The Industrial Policy stipulates several useful goals to broaden the participation of women
entrepreneurs from different perspective. Some statements are given below as examples;
Identifying women entrepreneurs capable of running independent and self-sufficient
industries and businesses, Designing various incentive packages, Reserving plots in EPZs,
Providing proper training in respect of starting and continuing enterprises, Establishing
separate banks to have credits, capitals and collateral free loans, Offering advanced training
opportunities to create women entrepreneurs of high standard, Improving the standard of
goods produced, Creating new markets, local, national and international
Export Promotion Strategy Paper, 2006-2009 tells the necessity of reducing discrimination
between men and women and to integrate more women in business.
Some statements from this paper are given below as examples- Encouraging female
entrepreneurs in the export sector, Promoting labor-incentive export-oriented production,
encouraging the aforementioned segment in innovation, Rewarding best female exporters
Millennium Development Goals, 2000-2015 covers the women development issue from the
most general poverty eradication and basic human right protection standpoint. Some
statements are given below as examples- Achieve primary education, Promote gender equity
and empower women and Employment generation for women in non-agricultural sector

Socio-Economic Impacts of Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh

49

Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, 2004, a follow up policy initiative in line with MGDs but
comprehensive than that of previous ones. It states about the different entrepreneur-friendly
setting ups for women. Some statements are given below as examples-Improving Business
Support Services, Setting up Information bank on private investment, Ensuring women rights
and advancement, Mainstreaming gender issues in agriculture, rural development and labor
market, Ensuring female education starting from the primary level, Enhancing good quality
employment and Emphasizing on female health, hygiene etc.
10. Support Services for Women Entrepreneurship Development
Different types of organizations provide either direct or indirect supports to women
entrepreneurs besides the government. Among various supporting organizations, the financial
institutions are considered most important. A list of supporting organizations is given
subsequently but only government policy supports and financial institutions supports are
illustrated broadly. (a) Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) (b)
Bangladesh Bank (c) State and private commercial banks (d) Financial institutions (e)
Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB) (f) Bangladesh Management Development
Institute (BMDI) (g) Directorate of Women Affairs (DWA) (h) Development of Youth
Development (DYD) (i) Bangladesh Manpower Training Bureau (BMTB) (j) Microindustries Development and Assistance Services (MIDAS) (k) Job Opportunities and
Business Support (JOBS) and (l) NGO-MFIs MSME program
11. Motivating Factors to be Women Entrepreneurs
Factors that encourage women to be an entrepreneur; Inspiration factors are; i) To create selfdependency ii) Extra income for the family iii) Self inspiration Self employment iv)
Inspiration by friends v) For economic freedom vi) To upgrade social status vii) Pass leisure
time vii) Economic development viii)Inspiration from some organizations ix) No alternative
to have a job x) Inspired by training xi)To establish womens rights xii) Eradicate gender
discrimination xiii) Creating opportunity for others
12. Key Challenges for the Women Entrepreneurs:
Existence challenges discussed in a recent report (Chowdhury, 2008) are as follows.
12.1 From the aspect of demand side:
(a) Fear of being rejected, unwillingness to have collaterals from partners, doubts about
defending the project (b) Lack of knowledge on different available options of financing
scheme (c)Lack of appropriate skills to evaluate the business especially those in the informal
sectors (d) Complex procedure in the institutional level (e) Sometimes gender biasness of the
male officers (f) Complicated arrangement in legalizing and formalization of business (g)
Inadequate technical knowledge and managerial experience which make it difficult foe them
to sustain in the competitive market (i) High cost of credit (j) Weak and poorly enforced
credit rights in the country and (k)Lack of effective policies and infrastructure to expedite
their economic activities.

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12.2From the supply-side perspective:

(a) Financial institutions reluctance to finance for start-ups (b) Insufficient assets to cover
the debt-burden ratio (c) Low capitalization (d) Vulnerability to market fluctuations (e) High
mortality rates (e) Lack of accounting records and inadequate financial statements (f) Lack of
business plans (g) Less access of the male officers to the women entrepreneur and (h)
Difficulties in identifying entrepreneurs involved in informal business sectors.
In spite of constraints, enterprise portfolio shows the following distribution (Chowdhury,
2008) of enterprises owned by male and female entrepreneurs.
Table 03: The number (in %) of men and women Entrepreneurs
Sector

Female
(%)

Male
(%)

Mixed
(%)

Agriculture

18

25

29

Fishing

01

04

06

47

14

23

Manufacturing
handicrafts)

(Boutiques,

Total

Female (%) 18 1
47 0 23 7 1 1 0 1

Construction

00

01

03

Wholesale and Retail, Trade

and repairs

23

42

25

Male (%) 25 4 14 1
42 5 1 3 1 3

Hotels and Restaurants

07

05

11

Mixed (%) 29 6 23
3 25 11 0 4 0 --

Transport,
storage
communication

and

01

01

00

Real estate, renting

business activities

and

01

03

04

Health and Social Work

00

01

00

Other Service Activities

01

03

--

Total

100

100

100

Source: Deniels, Lisa, October (2003) Figure 03: The number (in %) of men and women
Entrepreneurs
12.3 Factors hindering marketing of the product
The women entrepreneurs interviewed were asked to describe their perception about the
factors that were hindering proper marketing of their products. The major opinions were as
(a) Lack of proper training (b) Lack of raw materials (c) Lack of capital (d) Social barriers
(e0Unsecured communication system (f) Lack of efficient workers (g) Sexual harassment (h)
Family restriction (i) Religious beliefs and traditional customs (j) Lack of linkage with
national and international market (l)Failure to recover cost and (m) Lack of market
information

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51

12.4 Factors hindering their product development

Main issues discussed by them were as follows-(a) Lack of capital (b) Lack of good
designers (c) Lack of skilled workers (d) High price of materials (e)Lack of modern
machineries (f) Lack of raw materials (g) Lack of proper knowledge and training (h) Lack of
information (i) Lack of family and social restriction to give more time to develop product and
(j)Lack of development institutions.
12.5 Financial Constraints
All women entrepreneurs acknowledge that financing is a crucial problem for them, as they
get very seldom support in this regard from their husbands. Because of lack of finance most
robust idea of women entrepreneurs could not be realised. Most of the rural women have
almost no possibility to expand their operations unless the burden of loan interest is reduced(
Faraha Nawaz, Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum 2012),are as follows; i)Women Entrepreneurs
doesnt get collateral free loan as they have no assets ii) Lack of interest free loan for
encouraging women entrepreneurs iii) Long term loan not be available iii) Interest rate very
high and long term interest free loan are not available iv) There are no investment Bank for
Women entrepreneurs v) Access to finance not easier vi) Women entrepreneurs not freed
from VAT at least in mid-term basis and vii) Women entrepreneurs have no direct access to
finance and other infrastructure and institutional facilities; etc.
12.6 Lack of Infrastructural Facilities
Infrastructural Facilities such as transportation, communication and supply of electricity are
not at optimum level. These pose a great barrier for entrepreneurship development in the
rural area. Modern development is the development of technologies. Production cannot meet
the demand unless its quality is up to the market requirement (Rahman, Hossain & Miah,
2000). The field survey revealed that 95% (38 female entrepreneurs) are practicing
traditional technology, which ultimately results into increasing inefficiency. The
opportunities for training and also the scope of introducing new technology are increasing.
Nonetheless, such opportunities are most extended in the urban areas. It is observed that
technical assistances are not easily available to the rural entrepreneurs.
12.7 Other Challenges
i) Lack of Technical Support ii) Poor Managerial and Technical Skills iii) The absence of
proper sales centre or show room facility iv) Non availability of skilled labor or trained
employees v) Besides, products are sometimes put up for sale on credit basis creating
problems in the collection of the money vi) Lack of improved implements and machinery,
existing competition faced due to expansion of production, difficulty in the procurement of
raw materials, problems of sales collection, problems increased by middlemen vii)
Constraints in transportation and marketing are existing problems for business viii) Lack of
proper training on management and production skill up-gradation (ix) Lack of healthy
workplace environment and especially lack of training facilities are some of the major
constraints which should be overcome for steady functioning of the business and (x) Due to
lack of market facilities women do not get the proper prices for their products, which are
under priced by the customers or wholesalers who order their products.

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13. Anticipations of Developing Women Entrepreneurs

The constitution also includes the issue of the development of the women entrepreneurs
13.1Governments strategies for womens advancement
For the overall well-being of the women folks of the country, the government of the Peoples
Republic of Bangladesh has set the following strategies(a)Increase womens participation in
the decision making process of all financial institutions and remove the existing differences
between women and men (b) Ensure womens equal right in formulating and implementing
economic policy (commercial policy, monetary policy and fiscal policy, etc.); (c)Keep
womens needs and interest in consideration while formulating the macro-economic policies
and taking programs for empowerment of women (d)Build safety-net in favor of women to
prevent adverse effects of application of macro-economic policies (e)Provide equal
opportunities and partnership to women in matters of access to property, employment, market
and business (f)Take effective measures in all organizations including Bureau of Statistics for
projecting womens contribution in national economy.
Government has set distinct strategies in its National Action Plan (NAP) for the development
of the women entrepreneurship, which are (a) Adoption of a comprehensive sustainable
industrial policy that will promote equity for women and men (b)Increase the number of
women entrepreneurs (c)Ensure womens easy access to markets (d)Develop entrepreneurial
skills of the women (f) Provide infrastructure facilities for women entrepreneurs (g) Upgrade
technical know-how of women and develop technology suitable for women (h)Enable MOI
and other related ministries, agencies to address and implement WID issues in
comprehensive and coordinated way for effective implementation of the Industrial Policy and
(i)Support research, evaluation and action-oriented programs of industry particularly for
women engaged in the industrial sector.
13.2 The Fifth-Five-Year Plan of the country clearly reflects objectives of the development
policies and National Action Plan (NAP), which commit- (a) Ensure equal rights of women
in all spheres of development, including access to information, skills, resources and
opportunities (b)Enhance the participation of women in political, civil, economic, social and
cultural life (c) Promote economic self-reliance for women, and generate economic policies
that have positive impact on employment and income of women workers in both formal and
informal sectors (d) Create appropriate institutional arrangements with necessary financial
and human resources and authorities at all levels to mainstream womens concerns in all
aspects and sectors of development (e) Mainstream womens concern in agriculture and
rural development, industry and commerce besides services (f) Ensure the visibility and
recognition of womens work and contributions to the economy (g) Micro-Credit for women
entrepreneurs (h) Institutional Credit for women entrepreneurs (i) Credit policy for Women
Entrepreneurs which could be devoted for women entrepreneurship development (j) Tax
Policy taxation can have profound influence on the women entrepreneurship development (k)
The Tax Ordinance, 1984 The Tax Ordinance, 1984, has specified "deemed income" as
income. The term "deemed income", however, has not been defined, which means that the
tax collector can identify income as chargeable to tax and (l) Tax holiday means exemption
from payment of tax on profits and gains from the problems and bottlenecks, which the
women entrepreneurs, cited in the. Workshop could be grouped into following categories:

Socio-Economic Impacts of Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh

53

13.3 Financial Policies and Strategies

In respect of the policy, strategy and function of Bangladesh Bank and Commercial Banks
following suggestions may be made-i) Identification of genuine women entrepreneur
Establishing credit guarantee scheme for women entrepreneurs ii) sinking interest rate for
loans for women entrepreneurs iii)Setting up special window for financing women
entrepreneurs iv) Pre- and post investment counseling for women entrepreneurs for credit v)
Monitoring of credit disbursement for women entrepreneurs vi) Maintaining gender-based
data on credit disbursement and dissemination information on credit opportunities
Establishing a exclusive bank for women Enabling credit for the women without collateral
and vii)Establishing strong relation among different chambers and business organizations to
ensure support for development of the women entrepreneurs
14. Recommendations and conclusion
The study has reviewed the status of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. It has set the
propositions regarding the role of women in Bangladesh society, and the opportunities open
to them to operate their enterprises effectively and efficiently. A focus on the
recommendations exhibits the following:

Separate banks may be established for women entrepreneurs and for the other banks;
an obligation may be imposed to maintain a minimum quota for the underprivileged
women entrepreneurs.

A comprehensive credit policy should be initiated under the direct supervision of the
central bank in order to create access of women entrepreneurs to finance. The policy
must keep a provision of collateral free loan, credit without interest or low rate of
interest, loan for long time duration etc.

Awareness of business opportunities and support services offered by various entities

should be targeted towards women.

Proper coordination, necessary fund and trained staff should be provided by the GOs
and NGOs to improve service delivery mechanisms.

Credit programs need to be linked with entrepreneurship development training

programs.

National Women Development Policy 2008 should be properly implemented.

Concerned entities should provide special support to women entrepreneurs engaged

in trade fair and export trade.

Counseling on project ideas, techniques for selecting suitable projects, preparation of

business plan, management, sustaining support etc. should be provided to create and
maintain women entrepreneurship friendly environment.

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The central bank should fix up a target for each bank to provide loan for women
owned enterprises and form a monitoring team to monitor the implementation of its
circular.

Increase research program on women entrepreneurship development and provide

financial support by the government to the institutions that are currently involved in
research activities on women entrepreneurship development

Provide counseling services and training to the women entrepreneur on a regular

basis and extend such types of services to the rural areas

National Board of Revenue (NBR) in order to raise awareness on tax giving

procedures

Introduce lesson on entrepreneurship development in educational curriculum

In addition to existing poverty eradication program, the Government should

undertake a separate program for women entrepreneurship development

National Action Plan for the development of women entrepreneurship should make
provision for undertaking necessary steps to feed women entrepreneurs with
resources.
Ensuring timely implementation of the Policies of National Action Plan.
Ensuring Implementation are regular monitoring of the Beijing UN Convention
Women Development
Women entrepreneurship is not only a source of income generation but also a way of
achieving economic independence. Realizing the importance of women entrepreneurship,
Bangladesh government has taken several initiatives to encourage women getting involved in
various micros, small and medium enterprises. Women have now become aware of their
socio-economic rights and have ventured to avail the opportunities initiated for them. It is
impossible to achieve the target of a poverty-free society without incorporation of women in
the mainstream economy. Considering the issue, a special emphasis has been given by the
Government, donor agencies, NGOs, business community and all other relevant stakeholders
through different interventions to ensure increased womens participation in formal economic
sectors, especially in business and industry.

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55

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