The UN Capital Development Fund and Business Finance for the Poor in Bangladesh (BFP-B) cordially
held the Digital Finance Consultative Group (DFCG) regional consultation on ‘National Financial
Inclusion Strategy for Bangladesh (NFIS-B) : Insights from Sylhet Regional Stakeholders’ on
03 June 2018 at the Rose View Hotel in Sylhet. NFIS-B has been drafted by the BFP-B project which is implemented by Bangladesh Bank and supported by DFID.

Chief and Special guests

The purpose of the consultation was to understand views and expectations of regional stakeholders on the draft NFIS report.
Mr. Arijit Chowdhury, Additional Secretary, Financial Institutions Division, Ministry of Finance kindly consented to be the Chief Guest. Mr. Md. Nazimuddin, Executive Director of Bangladesh Bank Head office and Mr. Md. Shah Alam, Executive Director of Bangladesh Bank Sylhet presented as special guests to the consultation.

About Digital Finance Consultative Group (DFCG)

Digital Finance Consultative Group (DFCG) is a knowledge sharing and consultative platform of public and private sector stakeholders to open up dialogue on the strengths, opportunities, challenges and gaps in accelerating digital financial inclusion in Bangladesh. DFCG works to accelerate innovations around product and services, encourage conducive and progressive regulatory regimes for facilitating growth of the DFS ecosystem in the country through consultative approach. UNCDF serves as the Secretariat of DFCG.

Business Finance for the Poor in Bangladesh

BFP-B is a programme funded by UKaid from the British Government. The Bangladesh Bank is the implementing agency, and the Financial Institutions Division of the Ministry of Finance, Government of Bangladesh, the executing agency of this programme. Nathan Associates London Ltd. is the management agency. BFP-B is a
multifaceted programme, aimed at bringing poor and marginalised people into the formal financial sector and promoting overall inclusive economic growth in Bangladesh. The programme targets ‘access to finance’ for Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) that are currently unserved/underserved by the formal financial sector. www.bfp-b.org

UNCDF’s SHIFT in Bangladesh

The Shaping Inclusive Finance Transformations (SHIFT) programme framework for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries is a regional market-facilitation initiative with the aim to improve livelihoods and reduce poverty rates in SAARC countries by 2021. The initiative seeks to stimulate investment, business innovations and regulatory reform to expand economic participation and opportunities for women, and help small and
growing businesses to be active agents in the formal economy.