Bangladesh

<p><span lang="EN-GB">The surge in demand for sustainable products and the global shift toward sustainable trade and finance have resulted in a proliferation of complex sustainability standards and regulations. These standards, some voluntary and others mandatory, pose challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in understanding and adhering to them. This difficulty affects SMEs&apos; competitiveness and diminishes their impact on productivity, employment, and growth. Failure to comply with these standards jeopardizes market access for SMEs and their supply chains. To address this, the Asian Development Bank&rsquo;s Trade &amp; Supply Chain Finance Program</span><span lang="EN-US">&nbsp;(TSCFP)</span><span lang="EN-GB">, in collaboration with the International Trade Centre, aims to augment the existing self-assessment module of the ITC Standards Map by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to create an SME Standards Navigation Toolkit. This solution supports SMEs by raising awareness of sustainability standards and evaluating their readiness for certification. It offers an online self-assessment to guide them towards certification, providing tailored recommendations for sustainable practices and compliance with relevant standards, ensuring alignment with their business goals. The toolkit will help SMEs&nbsp;</span><span lang="EN-US">in ADB developing member countries (DCMs)&nbsp;</span><span lang="EN-GB">increase their awareness of sustainability and regulatory standards, with an initial focus on social and labour sustainability in the textile and apparel sector. As this initiative progresses from its pilot phase, there is a clear pathway for scaling up. Options for expansion include transitioning from a pilot to a fully funded project by ADB.</span></p>

<p>A country diagnostic for Bangladesh, Rwanda and Uganda, including an analytical and a survey component, will build the evidence base to understand the value-added trade diversification opportunities and the required actions to materialize those.&nbsp;</p>

<p>SheTrades Commonwealth + project aims to foster an enabling business ecosystem by promoting inclusive policy and data and engaging business support organizations, private-sector partners, and women-led businesses in the Commonwealth countries. <span>&nbsp;</span>The project will focus on scalability and immediate results by strengthening the functionalities and diversifying services of the SheTrades Initiative globally through SheTrades Outlook and SheTrades Hubs. This project will build upon the previous phase of the SheTrades Commonwealth project that has been ongoing since 2018, over which time sustainable networks of stakeholders at both ecosystem and SME levels have been built and sustained.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The project will strengthen ICDT services on trade intelligence to support the public and private sector from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to make better informed decisions and, in the long term, to contribute to an increase of trade between OIC Member States through the embedding of Market Analysis Tools, the development of an online Trade Helpdesk and the development of trade-related studies.</p>