The Job Opportunities and Business Support (JOBS) Project is an integrated private sector development program funded by USAID/Bangladesh and implemented by the Center for Institutional Reform and Informal Sector (IRIS) at the University of Maryland. Since 1997 the Project has worked to assist Bangladeshi enterprises to expand their sales in domestic and international markets through a variety of interrelated activities including identifying sub-sectors that offer significant growth potential, selecting and building the capacity of small and medium enterprises to manufacture diversified export products, coordinating skill development training for workers, coordinating the provision of international technical assistance, assisting in product development and improvement, developing international and domestic markets, facilitating loans, and coordinating technical assistance to the government to develop a supportive policy and regulatory environment.

JOBS and Sector Focus:

The Project has been assisting in the development of various sectors including leather goods, footwear, home textiles, floor coverings, diversified jute products since its inception. Recently it added handmade paper products, diversified coconut products, personal protective equipment, electrical products, and information technology to its target sectors. Sectors are selected based on the following criteria:

• Their products are exportable;

• They draw on labor- intensive production chains;

•  They rely on locally procurable raw materials;

• They have potential to double or triple their worker’s compensation; and

• They can generate employment for women.

For the development of each sector, a vigorous, market-driven methodology is applied: locate an international market, get buy-in from entrepreneurs, invite an international expert to produce samples for the target market, participate in trade fairs to obtain orders, develop a skilled work force through cluster-based training, backward link the entrepreneur/lead buyer to the clusters (or link small and medium enterprises with upstream micro-enterprises), and facilitate entrepreneurs’ access to finance.

JOBS and Association/Cluster Model:

JOBS was originally designed as three inter-related components: micro-enterprise support, SME support, and policy. In its first years, the Project worked closely with leading NGOs to provide technical and business training to their micro-enterprise clients on a regional basis, creating several thousands of jobs in the process. At the same time, it was developing the production and marketing capacities of larger enterprises in selected sub-sectors. At the same time, the Project was looking for ways to integrate its work with the two types of enterprises, and found the answer in the cluster concept. Under this arrangement, SMEs contract with local micro-enterprises for intermediate products (for example, soles) that they use for producing end products (shoes). By providing training to SMEs and micro-enterprises in a cluster, JOBS helps SMEs to meet market demand while creating employment and generating income for micro-enterprise workers.  

To assist micro-enterprises in other areas, JOBS has also helped form associations of NGO micro-producers. Under this program, independent associations of pineapple producers, milk producers, and weavers have been formed to link them to markets and financial institutions. This has led to increased prices for their products, and access to finance from commercial banks.

 JOBS Information and Communication Technology:

In keeping with its importance to economic development, JOBS is working in various fields of ICT, including e-governance, e-commerce, e-policy, and e-human resources development. To this end, JOBS has assisted the Law Commission of Bangladesh to draft the proposed Information Technology (IT) Act. The Project has also organized two major conferences on e-commerce and IT, which have led to the development of a policy agenda to be implemented by the government. JOBS works to develop the capacity of the three ICT associations and is studying Bangladesh’s potential for ICT enabled services, assisting government organizations to incorporate and implement ICT in their operations and working to establish an internationally recognized CISCO certification program in Bangladesh.

JOBS and Enabling Environment:

JOBS has undertaken a number of initiatives to improve the enabling environment for SME and micro-enterprises in Bangladesh, in keeping with the IRIS experience that consistently demonstrates that the quality of the policy environment is the determining factor in achieving sustainable development and poverty alleviation. JOBS’s main sphere of policy activity centers around access to credit by SMEs. In a country where many micro-enterprises have relatively easy access to credit through microfinance, SMEs face greater hurdles, because they are too large to qualify for microfinance loans but lack the collateral that commercial banks require. In response, the Project, with the help of local and international experts, has drafted the proposed Secured Transaction Act, which is currently being reviewed by the government. This Act, if adopted, will set a strong legal basis for lending against movable assets. As mentioned earlier, JOBS is also a major player in the development of a supportive environment for the use of e-commerce for economic development. Earlier policy successes include the removal of interest rate caps on SME loans, the raise of the VAT rate floor, and the expansion of the mandate of the Credit Information Bureau to provide information about SME loans.