The 9th edition of the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) Bangladesh Grand Finale by Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO), presented by United Commercial Bank (UCB) PLC, was held at Hotel Renaissance Gulshan Dhaka on Sunday (January 19).  

Showcasing the brightest young entrepreneurial talents in the country organized every year by Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) Bangladesh, celebrates innovation, determination, and the entrepreneurial spirit among students pursuing ventures alongside their academic careers. The gracious presence of the Honorable Adviser, Ministry of Finance, Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed was the attraction of the evening.

This year the winner of Bangladesh chapter was Showmik Hassan Shranto from BRAC University for his business Dubotech. He won a prize money of Tk 5 Lakh and has been qualified to compete next for the GSEA Global quarter final to be held in Nagpur, India on the 10th of March with contestants from three other countries that include India, Sri Lanka and Nepal. The runner up was Mohammad Mohiuddin Shourav from (IBA) Dhaka University for his business Wastech. The Global final will be held in mid-May at Cape Town, South Africa and the prize money for the winner will be US$ 50,000.

The jury board of the GSEA Bangladesh Chapter final consisted of three judges that included Hossain Khaled, Group Managing Director of Anwar Group & Vice Chairman City Bank PLC who is also the Founder President of EO Bangladesh, along with Kazi M Hassan, Chief Executive Officer of R ventures PLC & the head of the digital venture's subsidiary of Robi Axiata Limited and Asif Zahir, Deputy Managing Director of Ananta Group & Managing Director of Sindabad.com.

Amer Salim, the Chair of GSEA Bangladesh Chapter along with his Co-Chair Hasnat Mosharraf inaugurated the program. President of EO Bangladesh & Chairman- Trade Design Solution Ltd, Faatin Haque jointly with Chairman of UCB & Managing Director of Ananta Group Sharif Zahir announced the names of the winner & runner up. 

They highly encouraged the young entrepreneurs to take lead of the future of Bangladesh and wished luck to the winner for his journey at the global stage of the GSEA competition. Esteemed Guest Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, Honorable Adviser to the Ministry of Finance graced the event and handed over the crests to the winner & runner up.

EO Bangladesh held two more significant programs after the GSEA event on the same evening. First was a learning session with Honorable Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed with the participation of EO Bangladesh members & their spouses where the Honorable Adviser shared his valuable insights and expertise regarding economic context as well as Banking and Financial sectors' reform & policy and other pressing matters.

The last event of the evening Annual General Meeting (AGM) of EO Bangladesh was held after the learning session.  Both the events were sponsored by ASK Telecom ltd. The AGM provided an excellent opportunity for EO Members to connect and reflect on the past year. Plans for coming years were also discussed during the AGM as EO's Regional Directors of South Asia Vikram Bhartia and Prabhakar Kadavasal attended via Zoom.