Katalyst

Katalyst is one of the largest projects which work in the field of SME promotion in Bangladesh. It started in 2002 and is currently active in more than 30 sectors: manufacturing sectors such as plastics, furniture, agro tools; agricultural sectors like pond fishery, vegetables, maize and poultry and in service sectors, e.g. accounting, marketing and quality management. KATALYST also works with business associations to improve the enabling environment for businesses. The project’s activities run nationwide with a special focus on areas in and around Dhaka, Faridpur, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Bogra and Jessore.

Funding

Katalyst is funded by DFID, SDC, Sida and CIDA and is implemented by Swisscontact and GTZ International Services and works together with the Bangladesh Ministry of Commerce.

Management Structure

Katalyst Team

Peter Roggekamp

Manish Pandey

Harald Bekkers

Ulrich Stucki

Rajiv Pradhan

Elke Shrestha

Mohammad Shahroz Jalil

Sadruddin Imran

Fouzia Nasreen

Md. Emdadul Haque

Rubaiyath Sarwar

Fahad Muneem Rahmatullah

Farzana Lucky Ali

Md. Arafat Hossain

Md. Bashir Uddin Miah

Md. Farhanul Enam

Md. Shahid Uddin Akbar

Mishu Rahman

Mir Attaqui Masruruzzaman

M Naveed Akbar

Mohammad Rizwanullah

Monirul Bashar

Mushfiqur Rahman

Shamuna Bint Mizan

Shehzaad Shams

Sohel Manzur

Abdul Awal

Anirban Bhowmik

Ehsanul Haque

Khaled Khan

Kayenat Kabir

Mahbubur Rahman Khan

Manzurul Hasan

Md. Abdur Rouf

Md. Fazle Razik

Md. Rofiqul Islam

Mohammad Muaz Jalil

Mujibul Hasan

Nabanita Sen

Nadeem Rizwan

Nusrat Nahid

Sadia Ahmed

Sabbir Ahmed

Syed Abu Sufian

Rashadul Hasan

Tamanna Sharmin

Tashmin Laila

Wafa Hafiz

Zannatul Ferdous

Zillur Rahman

Bidowra Tahmin Khan

Hosna Ferdous Sumi

S. M. Rakibul Haque

Azman Ahmed Chowdhury

Mahmuduzzaman

Nasir Uddin Ahmed

Tasaffy Madani Hossain

M E K Lutfullah

Farzana Aziz

Marylin Gomes

Md. Billal Hossain

M A Wahab

Mohammad Yusuf

Rabeya Sultana

Katalyst approach

Katalyst is working in growing sectors where the poor participate in large numbers as producers, employees and consumers. The project's activities in agricultural sectors like vegetables and pond fishery fall under this category. KATALYST also works in service markets which have an impact across many economic sectors and contribute to a modern economy. This refers to the work in accounting services, marketing and media. Business associations play a critical role in advocating for better rules and regulations and the project also works on this.KATALYST identifies and analyses the above markets by using a variety of tools like sub-sector analysis, cluster analysis, UAI surveys and enabling environment studies. In this process it identifies a sector’s constraints and opportunities, its market players, the direction the sector/market is moving in, a vision of the future and what would be key areas for project intervention such as farm or firm productivity, input related issues or output related issues. KATALYST’s assistance can be related to improving market access, management and technical skills, quality and production methods. The project does not give direct support to individual enterprises but tries to stimulate stakeholders to provide their own solutions to problems and identify opportunities. In order to maximise scale and outreach to small and medium-sized enterprises, KATALYST also engages with business service providers who can best address the problems in a specific sector. For example, service providers can be private companies that help others to improve their business or business associations that influence the regulatory framework for SMEs.

External links

* [http://www.katalystbd.com/downloads.php Katalyst Downloads]
* [http://www.katalystbd.com/downloads.php?catid=11 Katalyst Minicases]
* [http://www.katalystbd.com/index.php Katalyst Website]
* [http://www.katalyst.co.za Katalyst Music Productions]