About BEI

Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) is a not for profit, non-political, independent research Think Tank based in Dhaka. It was established in October 2000. BEI is registered with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies, Bangladesh under the Societies Registration Act. It has a strong research, and financial management and administrative capacity with strong field outreach throughout the country.

BEI has four main focus areas, namely, Foreign Policy and Security, including traditional and non- traditional threats; Governance, including government, corporate and private sector; Regional Economic Integration, and Training and Capacity Building. In order to achieve these objectives, BEI undertakes the following approaches to achieve these objectives.

Policy support: One of the major activities of BEI is to extend policy support. In this context, BEI has offered policy inputs for several important government policies in recent years, including Money Laundering Prevention Ordinance 2008 and an Anti-Terrorism Ordinance 2008; National Counter-Terrorism Policy and Strategy for Bangladesh in 2011; Development of audit cells in four ministries and a trilateral mechanism among OCAG, ACC and IC to promote accountability and transparency in the public sector and drafting of National Counter-Radicalization Policy for Bangladesh and Counter Narrative to Extremist Ideology in collaboration with key government and non-government stakeholders.

Research: BEI has successfully completed a good number of research projects on several areas within its focus. They included: Community Security in North Bengal of Bangladesh and Options for the Future: A Youth Perception Survey; Safety and Security of South East Border Area of Bangladesh: A Public Perceptions Survey; Safety and Security of South East Border Area of Bangladesh: A Public Perceptions Survey; Role of Education in Countering Radicalization; State of Terrorism in Bangladesh; Role of the Media in Countering Radicalization; Role of Civil Society in Countering Radicalization; Role of Education in Countering Radicalization andTerrorist Financing in Bangladesh, among others.

Advocacy: In 2006, BEI formed an Advisory Committee on Counter Terrorism to sensitize the government and encourage cross-institutional collaboration in fighting terrorism and militancy by organizing dialogues, seminars and workshops. BEI has been carrying out advocacy in the form of dialogues, workshops, seminars and campaigns involving government officials, media, civil society and business in Dhaka and at the Divisional, District and Upazila level with a view to sensitizing stakeholders on issues of common and collective interests in line with the mandate of various projects and priorities set by BEI. BEI also undertakes dialogues with its regional and international partners on issues of common concern and interests.

Capacity building: Over the years, BEI has undertaken series of trainings and capacity building exercises on various issues. They included: Strengthening Information Dissemination Capacities of the Key Oversight Institutions in Bangladesh; UN Workshop for Police Officers and Prosecutors in South Asia on Effectively Countering Terrorism; Regional Workshop on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) through Strategic Communications; Training on Peace-building Skills of the Youth in Preventing Radicalization; Building social resilience capacity against radicalization among youths in 28 districts in Bangladesh; Capacity building of students, teachersand media personnel in Satkhira; Capacity building of female teachers and family members in Rajshahi and Chapai Nawabganj; Confidence Building among communities and institutions in Chittagong Hill Tracts; and Capacity Building of CSOs against radicalization in Bangladesh, among others.