Women's Entrepreneurship Development in Bangladesh

Women's entrepreneurship is important for women's position in society and for economic development of a country. It opens up new avenues for creating employment opportunities for women and men. It is a matter of encouraging that a good number of women are contributing in the economic progress of Bangladesh, making them involved in medium and small enterprises. In this process, policy-related factors and institutional factors play a vital role. Government agencies provide policy, legal, and financial support, taking active support from non-state actors. Specially, NGOs have been working in Bangladesh from 1980s to create a viable social environment for business women. Though more women are now involved in economic activities than in the past, women constitute less than 10 percent of the country's total business entrepreneurs. Women do business in a masculine society where they encounter policy-related problems, and they do not get proper supports from all respective institutions because of corruption and lack of information. It is assumed that combined initiatives of government and non-government institutes will be successful in encountering the changes of business women in Bangladesh.