BUP team wins business case competition
Hatti Ma Tim Team, a four-member team of the Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), yesterday won a "Business Case Competition 2021" solving a business case challenge on climate change.
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in Bangladesh and BRAC Business School, BRAC University jointly organised the finale and award giving ceremony.
The BUP's team, which became the gold category winner, was supposed to make an advertisement on net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. And the team, Hatti Ma Tim Team, came up with an AI-based solution and a Net Zero application which will help support the net zero ambition.
Three teams from Bangladesh were selected as the gold, silver and bronze award winners from five finalist teams. A total of 60 teams from 30 universities in the country participated virtually this year in the wider competition.
The qualifying teams consisted of university students from the leading universities of Bangladesh. The finalist teams received a business case challenge on 'Climate Change' and a few short hours later presented their solutions and recommendations to a panel of judges.
Barely Managing, a team of the IBA of Jahangirnagar University, and Hardly Knows, another team of the IBA of Jahangirnagar University, won silver and bronze awards respectively.
Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT, said, "I am really happy and proud to see how all the winners and participants have presented many innovative solutions to make the country and business environment friendly."
"Our startups are going beyond our borders and expanding to India, Nepal, Thailand and the Philippines and many more countries meeting the present market need. These startups will serve as the foundation for far reaching consequences in our GDP's overall growth," he said.
Md Mahbub ur Rahman, CEO of HSBC Bangladesh, said, "At HSBC we are committed to providing our customers, communities and our people with the skills needed in a global economy. It has been an honour to be playing a role in nurturing Bangladesh's future business leaders and entrepreneurs, who in turn will play their part in building a prosperous Bangladesh."
The judging panel included Derek Griffiths, Head of Trade & Investment, Bangladesh, Department for International Trade, British High Commission, Dhaka; Asif Saleh, Executive Director, BRAC; Simeen Rahman, Group CEO, Transcom Group, and Kevin Green, Country Head of Wholesale Banking, HSBC Bangladesh.
Simeen Rahman thanked the organisers for having a dialogue on climate change and encouraging the future leaders. She also thanked the participants for coming forward in solving the most pressing problem in the world.
"I am proud to share that at Transcom Group we have taken climate actions and particularly sustainability in our business as a priority," she said.
"We are consciously taking efforts to use solar energy, reduce water consumption and recycle solid waste to name a few key initiatives. We have also gone paperless for documentation which contributes to reducing carbon emissions. At Transcom Beverages, the Pepsi Beverages business in Bangladesh, we recognise along with PepsiCo's global system that we must create a circular economy in every country, where plastic package PET are sold. Bangladesh is no different,"
"I am happy to share that almost all of our portfolio are recyclable and that is the first step. Recycling plastic, especially PET, which is what we use, contributes significantly to saving in emission," she said.
The initiative is a part of HSBC's flagship Future Skills activity in Asia Pacific, and aims to enhance university students' business skills and broaden their global perspectives by taking their education out of the classroom and into a live competition format.
The Gold, Silver and Bronze team will receive a team development fund of Tk 200,000; Tk 100,000 and Tk 50,000 respectively. In addition to Bangladesh, the following HSBC markets in the Asia Pacific region are also conducting local business case competitions: Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Mainland China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Mauritius.
The winning team from Bangladesh will participate in the regional finale hosted by Hong Kong, where participants from different countries will participate.