Bangladesh Investment Summit 20257th to 10th April’ 2025&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Boosting investor confidence in Bangladesh!For the past few days, the Bangladesh Investment Summit 2025 has been the center of attention, widely recognized as one of the most impactful investment summits of our times. Held from April 7-10, 2025, the event was inaugurated by the Chief Advisor, bringing together over 550 foreign investors from 50 countries. With more than 2,300 participants, the summit featured dynamic discussions,&nbsp;matchmaking sessions, and partnership-building opportunities—an outstanding showcase by the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) to boost investor confidence in Bangladesh’s promising economic landscape.At Grameenphone, we take great pride in contributing to this remarkable initiative. Grameenphone has been the only telecom operator actively involved in the design and implementation work in partnership with UNDP and BIDA, which was made possible through our partnership for the Futurenation program.We had the opportunity to participate in multiple segments of the event and took lead at the Youth Entrepreneurship Expo which was the central focus of the summit. GP’s CEO Yasir Azman took the lead to inaugurate the Youth Expo by the Honorable Chief Adviser. He escorted a high-profile convoy through an exclusive walkthrough, including the Chief Advisor, Head of Telenor Asia, BIDA Chairperson, and UNDP Resident Representative. At the Youth Expo we showcased a series of 30 youth led start ups including participants from Grameenphone Accelerator. We also hosted a station for Futurenation project where the Chief Advisor paused to hear about the project and passed his remarks to all the youth at the expo. Next, in the Renewable Energy breakout session, GP’s commitment to sustainability was reinforced in the panel discussion Renewable Energy where GP’s CCAO Tanveer Mohammad championed our climate agenda.On day 2 of the Summit, Grameenphone participated at the Digital Economy breakout session. Our CEO Yasir Azman highlighted the story of Grameenphone as a successful example of foreign investment in Bangladesh- sharing perspective on&nbsp;Navigating Bangladesh as a market for alpha&nbsp;return. On the same day, GP’s CFO Otto Magne Risbakk participated in a panel discussion -&nbsp;Inclusive Digital Growth - where he highlighted critical policy factors that can unlock growth in the digital economy.Beyond the main Summit GP Management together with Telenor Management team members participated in one-on-one sideline meetings with the Chief Advisor, ICT Advisor, and BTRC Chairman - strengthening dialogue around future investment strategies. The Summit and GP’s participation received high visibility and traction across the national media channels. It was further amplified across the social media channels of the Chief Advisor, BIDA, UNDP, and Grameenphone.With this summit, Bangladesh has reaffirmed its position as a key investment destination and Grameenphone is honored to have played a pivotal role in shaping this milestone event!

<div class="custom-page-basic-font-size source-sans-pro">The post COVID-19 era marks a significant change in the minds of the young people. They have witnessed how the world has adapted to so much change in matter of days. Early in their lives they have encountered a deep reality and I see that influencing their plans for the future. &nbsp;With disruptions and changes in ways of learning, interacting, transacting and overall behaving in the society, young people are moving away quickly from the legacy beliefs of a defined future with a 9 to 5 job. What is clear is that becoming an entrepreneur is quickly becoming the number one choice for “Generation Next” – as many young people already want to break away from the fixed salary jobs. It’s not just the established big businesses that help society get through a crisis like COVID-19 but a new generation of up-and-coming entrepreneurs who are fostering innovation, ensuring future sustainability, focusing on building safe, equitable business models are strong contenders in the game. &nbsp;The revolutionary startups who are struggling yet hungry to establish something new are the biggest source of inspiration to young minds! I see two primary traits of these future startups: number one is agility and the other is resilience. Consumer expectations have changed. People are much more at ease with using new technology. So It is certainly becoming easier to become an entrepreneur and think beyond geographic boundaries. Cloud-based tech business has more than halved costs in starting and running a business. It’s also much easier to access new technology. Websites and platforms that integrate a tech stack enable small businesses to market products to a wider audience, with better connections and transparency between buyers, sellers, and partners. Thus, becoming an entrepreneur and building a small business is now the number one option when it comes to the gen Z young people. &nbsp;·&nbsp;The young people are more informed and at par with global concerns, they have high awareness on building a sustainable world and speak a common language. They are more equipped to make the largest impact in the society, such as &nbsp;·&nbsp;They see what others see, but see it from several different angles and perspectives·&nbsp;They are good at spotting and observing the emerging trends even before it is noticed·&nbsp;They are creators, who do not mind taking risk, looking weird or sounding ridiculous·&nbsp;They get propelled by how they can make it work, focused on multiple solutions·&nbsp;They are interested in how a seemingly unnoticed common problem or pain of masses can create opportunity for a new business·&nbsp;They fail often, but get around the failures by resounding success·&nbsp;They disrupt the existing and set new trends by thinking, asking, doing what was not done by most·&nbsp;They are the biggest learners; they learn from every walk of life and from everyone·&nbsp;They challenge status-quo, themselves and the experts &nbsp;Let’s encourage our next generation to follow this behavior of constant learning from everywhere. Let’s encourage them try and fail and learn. Whenever their passion, idea and time to market are in resonance there is bound to be many more Steve or Gates or Ayman or Afeef in the limelight. The future entrepreneurs will create the leap of our economy. We need not only a young workforce who are fit to join work but even more people to think differently and contribute to the creation of more and more jobs in the market. To create something fabulous that has a 10X ripple effect in the economy. The Gen Z entrepreneurs will propel the growth of Bangladesh to become the developed nation of 2041.</div>

GEN Z future entrepreneurs

<div class="custom-page-basic-font-size source-sans-pro">Bangladesh at 50 years is a changed Bangladesh. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation, called Bangladesh the Golden Bengal and the people of this country with immense potential. He has showed us the dream of a golden Bengal, which will be a state free from hunger and poverty, a prosperous state that will stand with pride on the globe.  &nbsp;From 1971 to 2021, Bangladesh is progressing at a accelerated pace, surprising the whole world. The one-time bottomless basket is now seen by everyone as a role model for development. Even the Corona pandemic has set a unique example for the way Bangladesh has bravely handled the situation. Our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is a shining example of demonstrating far-reaching strong leadership and unstoppable will. She has been working tirelessly to change the destiny of our people. In recent years, Bangladesh has achieved significant social and economic success. &nbsp;Based on our growing productivity, we have achieved an average growth rate of 7.8% over the last decade. Not only that, Bangladesh has also set a shining example of progress in a number of human development indicators, including adult literacy, life expectancy and gender. &nbsp;Appreciation to Hon'ble Prime Minister. Under your strong leadership, our country is on a high growth trajectory today, tackling extreme poverty, improving our livelihood, we have got a digital Bangladesh and above all our country has emerged from the least developed country segment to the middle income country. It is a moment of extraordinary pride as a Bengali. &nbsp;The progress of this development did not come suddenly, there are various long-term plans behind it. From the very beginning, the Government of Bangladesh has taken Vision 2021, Bangladesh Perspective Plan 2010-2021 and Sixth and Seventh Five Year Plans. As a result, we are seeing today a decade-long GDP growth of 7.8%. &nbsp;While the world has been plagued by Corona outbreaks, we are dealing with our limited resources with visibly great success. Under the leadership of our government, we have all tried to cooperate from our respective fields. During the Corona period, food was provided to the poor in a country of 160 million people, and efforts were made to provide security for the unemployed. So far, our vaccination program has been very efficient and well-received. The Hon'ble Prime Minister has not only provided vaccinations for us but has also inspired everyone to handle the situation with necessary protection. &nbsp;I believe an unprecedented time awaits us. The development that Bangladesh has set for itself in the next two decades is also far-sighted and courageous. Progressive Development will take place in agriculture, industry and commerce, education and health, transportation and communication systems, and operations and business management. To carry this we have a new direction which is the vision of the government of Bangladesh 2041. If this is implemented, the face of our country will change radically and we will be known as a developed country. Over the next two decades, our GDP growth rate will continue to rise and we will be able to get rid of extreme poverty forever. &nbsp;But the goal we are moving forward with is a much bigger and courageous goal. It may seem very ambitious at first glance but it is true that our goal of becoming a developing country at one time had also seemed very ambitious; But which we have already achieved. So I believe it is not impossible. There are many challenges, many risks in the way of achieving the goals of our perspective plan. There will be many obstacles in this long journey that we have to face. This will require strong economic and political foresight and well-thought-out strong action. And to that end, under the leadership of the government, we must all come forward together - the private sector and development partners. &nbsp;Creating employment for our young society is a vital task to continue our economic progress and maintain this continuity of growth. A major part of our population is young, about 2.8 million young people are looking for employment every year and this number is increasing each year. To the naked eye it may seem like a problem, but I see it as a possibility, our population dividend stands a sea of opportunities in front of us. To convert this working population into active human resources who can be the biggest contributors to take the economy beyond achievements of GDP target level. But we also need to keep in mind that this opportunity is limited. As the overall age of our young population increases over the next 20 years, we will be deprived of those benefits if we do not take advantage of this opportunity in time. &nbsp;For this we need to design not just one program but multiple connected programs which will be managed with the joint efforts of all of us. Everyone here must come forward for our next generation. All our efforts may not be successful, but in any difficult endeavor we either win or we learn. In this journey we hope that at some point we will be able to achieve something that will become a model not only for our youth but for the whole world. Millions of young people today are waiting for employment. They will be the next Bangladesh. They will be the economic driving force of the future.</div>

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We had the privilege of visiting our project site in Narayanganj, where we met 27 incredible people from transgender community. This community faces many challenges, including lack of social acceptance, yet they exhibit remarkable intelligence, social empathy, and a heightened consciousness that often surpasses those of many people we meet daily. Because of the rain, we&nbsp;had to take the sessions in their homes, and although the houses were dilapidated, the people we met were truly amazing.It’s truly inspiring to see them learning about online safety through Digital Inclusion project. Youth for change, the NGO on the ground and their dedicated team is tackling difficult conversations with care and making significant strides in ensuring digital safety for all. We are immensely proud to be leading this project, witnessing firsthand the real impact it has on these communities. Together, we are creating a safer, more inclusive digital world.

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