M4P Programme Summary - KATALYST Bangladesh, 2009

Description
KATALYST is a five-year project jointly funded by DFID, SDC, Sida, and CIDA, implemented by Swisscontact and GTZ and working with the Ministry of Commerce of Bangladesh. Donor funding totals £13.9 million over 5 years, of which DFID is contributing £8.8 million. KATALYST's objective is to impact on poverty alleviation by improving the competitiveness of selected sectors in the economy. It aims to enhance competitiveness by developing business services markets that improve SMEs access to knowledge, information and skills vital for growth. It also works to improve the enabling environment so that SMEs reduce costs and risks in setting-up and running businesses.

KATALYST identifies key constraints and opportunities in sectors and promotes mechanisms that improve business performance. Cross-cutting issues of Gender and ESRB (Environmentally and Socially Responsible Business) are integrated in all aspects of the project. KATALYST is active in several agricultural, manufacturing and generic business services sectors. It is further extensively involved in a number of sub-sectors within these major sectors.



Associated Activities and Documents
Programme Design
»	Katalyst in Bangladesh, by Frank Matsaert, 2003
»	Design of the Katalyst project, Bangladesh, June 2004
Implementation
»	KATALYST - Implementation, Bangladesh 2002-2007