EBL hosts Women Entrepreneurship Development Summit 2025

Eastern Bank PLC (EBL) organised the "Women Entrepreneurship Development Summit 2025" at its head office in Dhaka on July 23, bringing together women chambers, business associations and ecosystem partners from across Bangladesh to promote access to finance for women-led enterprises.

Themed "Building Bridges for Finance-Ready Women-Led Enterprises", the discussion focused on strengthening collaboration between EBL Women Banking and stakeholders to ensure inclusive financial access and institutional readiness for women entrepreneurs, according to a press release.

Rubina Husain, president of the Bangladesh Federation of Women Entrepreneurs (BFWE) and SEED Foundation, moderated the session, terming the initiative "a timely platform to unite banks, chambers and women entrepreneurs to formalise and scale women-led businesses."

At the event, EBL launched Phase II of its flagship women entrepreneurship development programme "Adbita", a three-month blended training initiative aimed at enhancing business documentation, financial literacy, e-commerce capability, product quality and market expansion.

"Our commitment goes beyond rhetoric. This program addresses the real needs of women entrepreneurs—access to finance, institutional recognition and strategic support," said Ali Reza Iftekhar, managing director of EBL.

The summit was attended by Md Mustafizur Rahman, CEO of SEED Foundation, Osman Ershad Faiz, additional managing director and COO of EBL, M Khorshed Anowar, deputy managing director and head of retail and SME banking Sarmin Atik, head of liability and, wealth management, and Tanzeri Hoque, head of priority and women banking, along with prominent women entrepreneurs and ecosystem partners.