Selima Ahmad and her team at media conference in Guwahati on Saturday. Picture by Biju Boro

Guwahati, Feb. 21: Businesswomen from Bangladesh have called for forging stronger trade links with the Northeast.

A six-member delegation of Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI), headed by its founder Selima Ahmad, was here as part of the inaugural function of the 11th edition of the Guwahati International Trade Fair.

“We are here to do business. And we are open to ideas and investment proposals. We need to develop better ties with our neighbours,” said Ahmad.

The BWCCI was established in June 2001 envisioning women’s economic empowerment in Bangladesh for businesswomen and industrialists. It is a non-profit and non-political organisation. There are only two such business chambers especially for women — in Sri Lanka and in Bangladesh.

Ahmad said, “Our government’s policies are very women-friendly. The work done by the Bangladesh Gramin Bank for strengthening women in the micro-credit sector is especially commendable. Bangla women have come a long way and are very active now”.

In the trade fair, Bangladesh is displaying melamine, handicrafts, flowers, jamdani sarees, and consumer products.

“Our main objective is to provide support to the women entrepreneurs in undertaking business and trade activities. We have been providing valuable support to our members in terms of training, market access, access to finance, networking, business awareness and capacity building,” said Ahmad.

The BWCCI is a strong community voice, lobbying for micro and macro women entrepreneurs and providing programmes, services and benefits to support the growth of its members. “We serve all business, with a special focus on small micro, rural women entrepreneurs. Our members are not confined to some traditional women-dominated sectors. We have women involved in the information technology sector, media and in industries of items made of recycled glass and metals,” said Ahmad.

Currently, the BWCCI is supporting sectors like agriculture and agro-processing products, handicrafts, boutique, home textiles and herbal products.

BWCCI is committed to being a leader of broad-based economic development in Bangladesh for businesswomen and industrialists. “We want to open up and develop linkages with women entrepreneurs here too. Instead of running to the West, we should look for business opportunities in the East,” she said. “We should look for comparative advantage rather than competitive advantage for doing business with our neighbours,” she added.

Top brands of the country are participating in the fortnight-long affair. Products from Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam and Nepal will give an international touch to the fair.