State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Junayed Ahmed Palak has called for women to step up and get involved more in startups to create digital Bangladesh.

He said women are not lagging behind nowadays, in fact they are growing fast forward everywhere. Women also have to play a big role in the formation of digital Bangladesh. It will not be possible to create a digital Bangladesh without women’s contribution to the society.

The State Minister depicts this while addressing the inaugural ceremony of 'Global Women Competition Series 2019' organized by She Loves Tech Bangladesh, a startup organization for women, at the idea Floor of ICT Tower in Agargaon, Dhaka.

“The startup initially might face several problems, and it requires solution”, Palak said.” If we fear to resolve problems, we will be far behind. The startup has to be prepared for the challenge in every aspects. We have even seen that the startups that started 10 years ago couldn't do much. Today things are changing, startup is moving forward. Many startup companies are now the largest companies in the world”.

The minister said that number of women in startups are quite low. About 9 percent of women are in the ICT sector worldwide. It won’t be too much in Bangladesh too. Empowerment of women is possible only when women also advance themeselves in the technology sector.

The state minister said the government is assisting women and men in various ways with their grants to build startup ecosystem for all entrepreneurs. The startup has the opportunity to invest up to Tk 10 lakh at the initial stage and Tk 1 crore in the next.

He said that the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's digital Bangladesh will be inclusive. May all men and women enjoy the benefits of this through a common platform. To achieve this goal, the ICT department is taking and implementing various activities including setting up of 28 hi-tech parks and incubation centers in different districts of the country.

It was informed that seven teams will participate in the selection phase of the competition. From there a team will be finalized to attend the main event in Beijing.

The event is organized by the International Organization for Business and Engineering and ICT Division in Bangladesh.

The seven teams that have been finalized in the preliminary selection phase are Wee Reichs, Digital Doorji, Shopway, Hello Tank, Dhaka Cast, Ekbaz and Romoni XYZ’s.

On the occasion, Mujibul Haque, Project Director of Idea Project, Investment Advisor Tina F. Jabin, and IDFC CEO Arif Khan spoke on the occasion.