MIDAS yesterday honoured eight entrepreneurs who found success in different fields of business after taking financial and technical support from the organisation.

The awardees—six of whom were women—received MIDAS Entrepreneurship Award 2018, at an event that MIDAS organised to celebrate its 35th anniversary at its head office in Dhaka.

Bangladesh is marching towards higher economic growth and MIDAS is playing an important role in developing micro and small entrepreneurship, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said while handing over the awards at the programme. He asked MIDAS to encourage entrepreneurs so that they get involved in export oriented businesses as the government is now providing exporters with various incentives.

The award recipients also shared their success stories at the event.

Nayan Salina —one of the awardees—took a loan from MIDAS to do business and earn a living in 1995 when she had to take care of her two children as a single mother in Cox's Bazar.

She said the capacity development training and technical assistance provided by MIDAS have helped her become the owner of a poultry and dairy business along with a hotel worth several crores of taka now.

Another recipient, Afsana Asif Shoma, found considerable success by dint of counselling and technical support from MIDAS. She is now the managing partner ofAsix, which generates some $1.5 million by exporting a diversified range of jute goods every year.

Noor A Alam Chowdhury—one of the two male awardees—shared how MIDAS stood beside him at the inception of his bakery.

With the technical and capacity building support from MIDAS, Chowdhury

opened the bakery—Bread and Beyond—in the capital's Dhanmondi area in 2014. Now the company has 13 outlets across Dhaka. The other recipients were: Wahida Khanam and Sultana Zaman Lina from Rajshahi, Soniya Rahman from Jessore, and MA Mannan and Selina Akter from Dhaka.

Micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) is an emerging sector in the country and MIDAS is one of the key players in this sector, Parveen Mahmud, chairman of MIDAS, said at the event.

The financial support of MIDAS is helping small and medium entrepreneurs turn into big ones, said Rokia Afzal Rahman, a director ofMIDAS.

MIDAS is providing collateral free loans to the small entrepreneurs to help them grow further, Rokia said. "The board of directors of MIDAS is also very supportive in giving such loans for the development ofwomen entrepreneurs."

MIDAS came into being as a non-profit voluntary organisation for the development of MSMEs with the financial assistance of USAID.

The organisation has developed around 32,000 women entrepreneurs since its inception.