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The AEDSB Washington Seminar Series
Using Venture Capital and
Investment Funds to Support SMEs and Community-Owned Enterprises in
Bangladesh"
by Dr. Zia Ahmed, Chairman, Venture Investment Partners Bangladesh, Ltd.
When: Wednesday, December 10, 2008; 1.00pm to 2.30pm
Where: Room MC 9-100, The World Bank, 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington
D.C. 20433
Contacts: If you need a pass to
attend the seminar, please contact one of the following:
AAhsan@worldbank.
KIqbal@worldbank.org,
BSen(202-473-
Abstract
Dr. Zia Ahmad will make a presentation on how he and his company the Venture Investment
Partners Bangladesh, Ltd. (VIPB) have been using venture capital approaches to
finance small and medium enterprises in Bangladesh and the opportunities they
provide for investors especially for non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs). He will
discuss the experience of VIPB's new line of investment in community based
private companies that mobilize local residents and local resources through
private community-owned for-profit entities. VIPB has invested in four such
community based companies in fisheries. Generally VIPB’s equity stake is 10%
plus additional funding as
quasi-equity, while the local residents own 80% of the equity shares in that
company. VIPB is now planning to develop a “community based mini-dairy cum
bio-energy and fertilizer enterprises” in rural Bangladesh adapting the
experience of “AMUL” in India. He will also discuss the VIPB's experience of
managing the growing indirect portfolio investment activities in Bangladesh and
its plans to support investments in growth-oriented emerging companies as well
as in securities of companies in the pre-IPO stage.
About the Presenter
Dr. Zia Ahmed is the Founder and Chairman of Venture Investment Partners Bangladesh
Ltd. (VIPB). It is the first Venture Capital-type fund management company in
Bangladesh with primary focus on Small and Medium Enterprises (www.vipblimited.