Sarathi’ aims for financial inclusion in building Smart Bangladesh

Publish: 9:02 PM, June 26, 2022 | Update: 9:02 PM, June 26, 2022

Under the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) of the Government of Bangladesh, ‘Sarathi’ has been introduced to bring adults out of bank accounts under financial inclusion by 2024. SwissContact Bangladesh has taken this initiative to bring 2 lakh industrial workers of the country and their locals under the formal financial services. In a joint venture with the MetLife Foundation, the service will cover a portion of the 71 percent of the population who are still out of digital transactions. In addition, the financial health of the industrial workers in the RMG cluster will be improved by increasing the modern formal savings, creating bank loan opportunities, bringing them under various health insurance and regular digital transactions, a press release said

Planning Minister MA Mannan inaugurated the program on Tuesday at a five-star hotel in the capital to bring garment workers into financial inclusion.

In his keynote address as the chief guest, he thanked the organizers and said that this innovative initiative goes in line with the ‘Smart Bangladesh’ concept.

Pragya Parmita Saha, Additional Director, Financial Inclusion, Bangladesh Bank addressed the function as the keynote speaker.

Earlier, Sarathi team leader Bipasha Sharmin Hossain shed light on how to bring 100% of adults into financial inclusion by 2024.

Krishna Thackeray, Assistant Vice President, MetLife Foundation; Ala Ahmed, CEO of MetLife Bangladesh; Manish Pandey, Director, SwissContact South Asia and Mujibul Hasan, Country Director, SwissContact Bangladesh delivered speeches among others.

In the second part of the program, Mohammad Rashed, Joint Director, Bangladesh Bank; BGMEA Director Asif Ibrahim; BKMEA Executive President Mohammad Hatem; Bestseller’s Responsible Sourcing, Social and Labor Manager Jahangir Alam; Bank Asia DMD Md. Ziaul H. Mollah; BKash’s Chief External and Corporate Affairs Officer Major General Sheikh Md. Monirul Islam (Retd.) And Nagad’s Chief Executive Officer Raheel Ahmed participated in a panel discussion on ‘Progress of Financial Inclusion in Bangladesh: Creating Opportunities for Garment Workers’

Emphasis is placed on the use of apps to spread the handset, internet and digital payment system to the millions of unbanked people of Bangladesh and move them towards a planned and more sustainable future.