PKSF, WB sign over $150m deal to promote youth entrepreneurship

The Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) and the World Bank (WB) on Monday signed a US$150.75 million agreement to enhance skills development and employment opportunities for the country’s youth.
PKSF Managing Director (MD) Md Fazlul Kader, and WB’s Division Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan Jean Pesme signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations. 

This comes as additional funding to the Recovery and Advancement of Informal Sector Employment (RAISE) project being implemented by the PKSF.

The RAISE project was launched in 2022 with an initial financing of $250 million, with the original completion timeline set for June 2026.

With this new financing, the project period will be extended until December 2030, and the budget for the extended phase will reach $280.65 million.

Following the World Bank’s additional financing, the remaining funds will be sourced from PKSF and its partner organisations. From 2022 to 2030, the total budget of the RAISE project now stands at $536.50 million, equivalent to approximately Tk6,100 crore, according to a press release.

RAISE aims to increase income and enhance the skills of unemployed youth, micro entrepreneurs, and workers engaged in the informal sector. 

By December 2030, more than four lakh people are expected to benefit directly, while four to five times more may benefit indirectly.

In this extended phase, special focus will be placed on youth from remote and climate-vulnerable areas, including chars, haor regions, and the hill tracts. 

To make women’s participation in the informal sector more accessible and supportive, an initiative has been taken to establish home-based childcare centres.

Under the project, young people are receiving market-oriented technical training. Through the traditional ustad-shagred model, participants gain hands-on skills aligned with labour market needs. 
The project also facilitates job placement for trained youth. 

Alongside, young micro-entrepreneurs are being provided with affordable credit and entrepreneurial capacity enhancement support, enabling them to expand their enterprises and create additional employment opportunities.