In a move that would further boost production of personal protective equipment (PPE) in Bangladesh even as the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic still, the Commerce Ministry has launched a US $ 7.5 million COVID-19 response fund for private enterprises to aid them in producing medical and personal protective equipment (MPPE).
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi virtually announced the fund — the fund is initiated with the support of the World Bank, under the Commerce Ministry’s Export Competitiveness for Jobs project — on 18 April (Sunday), as part of which, entrepreneurs will now get financial support from the Government to produce MPPE for both international and domestic markets even as the demand for MPPE continues to rise amidst the ongoing second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Named ‘COVID-19 Enterprise Response Fund’, any firm registered and operated in Bangladesh for more than three years can, reportedly, apply for grants ranging from US $ 50,000 to US $ 500,000 even as the applications would be considered on a first-come-first-served basis.
The factory has to meet Government, social, environmental and other standards and must be financially viable, added the Commerce Minister further.
