Mrs. Ferdaus Ara Begum is presently working as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD)-the national Public Private Dialogue (PPD) platform in the country. BUILD has partnership with three leading Chambers and also has a number of government and private MOU partners. In her present involvement she is maintaining a close relation with several government Ministries and regularly reports to the Prime Minister’s Office to provide research and secretarial services for the Private Sector Development Policy Coordination Committee(PSDPCC)-a high powered committee chaired by the Principal Secretary working since 2011. Mrs. Begum has vast experience of working with the private sector since 1987. A Master's degree holder in Economics with honours from Dhaka University, she completed her post-graduate Diploma in International Economics and Institutions and received training from AIT,Thailand on Project Implementation and Management. She attended Training on Services and International Trade Law and development in Esami, Arusha and Tanzania.
She has served as the Secretary of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI)- a leading and reputed Chamber in the country as well as acted as the head of the DCCI Research Cell for several years. She also worked as Executive Director of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry and gathered experiences of working with SAARC countries. She has managed numerous projects and coordinated a number of national and international programmes, contributing her extensive expertise in the areas of policy research and advocacy, SME development and promotion, Multilateral Training System (MTS), project management, women entrepreneurship development, chamber management etc.
She has also worked for CIPE, ITC, JETRO, GIZ, UNDP, IFC-WBG in different capacities. Presently maintaining contact with several donor organizations for running projects on sustainability and green growth and for providing professional services to the private sector.
