Dhaka, Thursday


28 March 2024


Business Insider Bangladesh

Small Business Champions 2023 launched helping smallholder farmers go global

BI Report || BusinessInsider

Published: 12:09, 17 March 2023  
Small Business Champions 2023 launched helping smallholder farmers go global

Photo: Collected

The Small Business Champions Initiative under the theme “Helping smallholder farmers go global” has been launched with an aim to find out ways for supporting smallholder farmers to participate in international trade.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Trade Centre (ITC), and the World Trade Organization’s Informal Working Group on Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (WTO MSME Group), with the sponsorship of Google, are calling for proposals to support smallholder farmers participate in international trade.

International trade can provide opportunities and lead to innovation for businesses of every size.

Smallholder farmers and rural micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are an important demographic, comprising up to half of all MSMEs in some developing economies.

However, these businesses may face challenges in accessing information, logistics and financing.

Helping these businesses access international markets and supply chains, therefore, has important multiplying effects.

The Informal Working Group on Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) launched Thursday.

The Small Business Champions Initiative was launched under the theme “Helping smallholder farmers go global and the winners will be announced at a virtual event on MSMEs Day, June 27, 2023.

The initiative is looking for proposals that help smallholder farmers access international markets and supply chains.

Proposals can be submitted by small businesses, industry associations, chambers of commerce, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The competition seeks to raise awareness among businesses and policymakers of the difficulties smallholder farmers encounter when it comes to international trade, highlight best practices, and to support smallholder farmers' participation in international trade with a view towards business innovation and resilience.

The deadline for submitting proposals is May 5, 2023.

Launched in 2021, the annual competition provides an opportunity for businesses, industry associations, chambers of commerce and NGOs to propose innovative, practical ways of helping small businesses play a more active role in world trade.

Goals of the Initiative

• Raise awareness among businesses and policymakers of the particular difficulties smallholder farmers encounter when it comes to international trade, from infrastructure to finance.

• Highlight best practices that are helping this demographic to internationalise.

• Support smallholder farmers' participation in international trade with a view towards business innovation and resilience.

Nagad
Walton