State Minister forInformation and Communication Technology Junayed Ahmed Palak has called forwomen to step up and get involved more in startups to create digitalBangladesh.

 

He said women are notlagging behind nowadays, in fact they are growing fast forwardeverywhere. Women also have to play a big role in the formation of digitalBangladesh. It will not be possible to create a digital Bangladesh withoutwomen’s contribution to the society.

 

The State Minister depictsthis while addressing the inaugural ceremony of \'Global Women CompetitionSeries 2019\' organized by She Loves Tech Bangladesh, a startup organization forwomen, at the idea Floor of ICT Tower in Agargaon, Dhaka.

 

“The startup initiallymight face several problems, and it requires solution”, Palak said.” If wefear to resolve problems, we will be far behind. The startup has to beprepared for the challenge in every aspects. We have even seen that thestartups that started 10 years ago couldn\'t do much. Today things arechanging, startup is moving forward. Many startup companies are now thelargest companies in the world”.

 

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

 

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

 

He said that the PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina\'s digital Bangladesh will be inclusive. May all menand women enjoy the benefits of this through a common platform. To achievethis goal, the ICT department is taking and implementing various activitiesincluding setting up of 28 hi-tech parks and incubation centers in differentdistricts of the country.

 

It was informed thatseven teams will participate in the selection phase of thecompetition. From there a team will be finalized to attend the main eventin Beijing.

 

The event is organized bythe International Organization for Business and Engineering and ICT Division inBangladesh.

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

 

On the occasion, MujibulHaque, Project Director of Idea Project, Investment Advisor Tina F. Jabin, andIDFC CEO Arif Khan spoke on the occasion.