Bangladesh

Bangladesh has made reasonable progress in reducing poverty, maintaining economic growth, achieving gender parity in education and eliminating famines and severe epidemics. A few multinational subsidiaries have plans for sustainability, but for most local enterprises in Bangladesh, the concept of sustainable and socially responsible business is still unknown. The SWITCH-Asia Programme, funded by the European Commission, is running a project to strengthen the export competitiveness of Bangladesh through promotion of environmentally friendly jute products. A complementary project funded by the Asian Development Bank is promoting market awareness and generating demand for funds to construct energy-efficient kilns. Kazi & Kazi Tea Estate Limited was producing over 300,000 kg of tea, 50,000 kg of which was being sold under the brand name Teatulia, the first branded Bangladeshi tea in the US market. The idea of Pabna Meat was conceived by Md. Liaquat Ali, a director of Bengal Meat, the largest meat processing company in Bangladesh.