Dhaka University’s IBA team clinches Unilever Bangladesh’s BizMaestros 2022 trophy

A team from the Institute of Business Administration under the University of Dhaka became the champion of Unilever Bangladesh's "BizMaestros 2022" trophy.

"Extra Drill" won the contest after challenging competition among the top six finalists, said Unilever in a press release today.

The finale event, which was held on Tuesday at the Radisson Blu Dhaka Water Garden in the capital, saw teams from the Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), and the faculty of business studies and the IBA of the DU presenting their ideas on real brands of Unilever.

The champion team, comprising Sibbir Riyan, Akibur Rahman and Ferdous Hasan, will now prepare for a greater stage, the international level of the competition - Unilever Future Leaders' League (FLL) 2023, which will take place in London with participants from universities across the world.

Team Inmates consisting of Ishrat Jahan Ikra, Syed Fatin Ishraq, and Naeem Abrar from the University of Dhaka became the first runner-up.

Team Final Gambit, consisting of Marjuka Ahmed Chowdhury, Shelachi Mitra and GM Naimuz Saadat from BUP, became the second runner-up.

This year's theme of BizMaestros was "Bangladesh Rising With U" and focused on the potential and possibilities that the youth dividend can lead for the country, according to the press release.

As a platform for skilling youth for employability and entrepreneurship, BizMaestros provides the participants hands-on training, mentorship and exposure to the ways of work of leading fast-moving consumer goods brands throughout various rounds of the competition.

The members of the top six teams will get fast-tracked into internship and management trainee programme opportunities with Unilever Bangladesh.

At the finale, the six finalist teams were evaluated by a panel of esteemed jury consisting of lawmaker Waseqa Ayesha Khan, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee for the power, energy and mineral resources ministry.

Md Jashim Uddin, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Naser Ezaz Bijoy, chief executive officer of Standard Chartered Bangladesh, Zaved Akhtar, chief executive officer and managing director of Unilever Bangladesh Ltd, and KSM Minhaj, managing director of Unilever Consumer Care Ltd, were present. 

"There is no such thing as a job for life in today's world. Thus, it is more important than ever to have a plan for the future and the skills to match," said Zaved Akhtar on the competition.

"At Unilever Bangladesh, we are committed to helping our people equip themselves to pursue their idea of meaningful work in an ever-changing world. Bizmaestros is our decade-old youth development initiative to prepare the youth of Bangladesh to become effective business leaders."

"BizMaestros 2022" kicked off early in October. More than 270 teams from over 30 universities participated in the first round.

The top 30 teams were forwarded to the semi-finale, and the top six teams to the final round.