Geeteara Safiya Choudhury runs Adcomm Limited – a very successful advertising firm, which she founded – from her office in Gulshan. She is one of the premier women entrepreneurs of Bangladesh and is also the president of the Dhaka Club, the premier club in the city.
Before she ventured into a business, she was offered a lucrative job with the United Nation in the 1970s, which placed her mind into a major dilemma – whether to take it or go into business to fulfil her dream. In the end, she decided on the latter and in the long run, it has turned out to be the right decision.
During her career, she has been frequently recognised for her achievements and won many outstanding and prestigious awards. In 1995 Geeteara was the sole recipient of Annanya Award in recognition of her achievements and contributions in business as a women entrepreneur. Other awards include Priyadarshini (1999) from Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs; Leading Women Entrepreneur of the World 2000 from IBM; and for being the Outstanding Women in Business of the Year 2002 from the Daily Star newspaper in Bangladesh.
Although Geeteara was born and lived in Dhaka City for all her life, she has travelled to many places in the world and attended seminars and conferences in Tokyo, Beijing, Soul, Stockholm and many other cities. She feels remarkably positive about Bangladesh’s future and thinks that although as entrepreneurs, women face many problems, they are, however, making progress in every field. The foremost of the barriers faced is that many people in the country do not consider women to be entrepreneurs or capable of running successful businesses.
According to Geeteara, women can do everything, and people in the country will have to get used to this fact. She feels that although women are becoming a force to be reckoned, it is still necessary to have a change in the mindset of the country to unleash their full potential. One requirement for doing well in business is to be able to travel and move freely, and this is not always possible for women in Bangladesh. Geeteara feels that the restrictions faced by women in the country are due to several factors. First, the law and order situation makes families worry about the security situation. Second, not all families are enlightened enough to allow women to go out and travel as required. Third, people doubt the capabilities of women. To succeed women will have to overcome these barriers.
However, Geeteara feels that women have come a long way and from her own experience, she knows that the situation is changing, although the process is very gradual. One thing that she is quite clear about is that men in Bangladesh are not male chauvinist pigs and want to restrict women for control and domination. She feels that the restrictions imposed by men on women are because they feel women need protecting.
About the future of Dhaka City, Geeteara feels that it can develop and become like Kuala Lumpur and Singapore but that it will take time. What is needed is proper and long-term planning. In terms of the role of the business people, she feels that they can make a better contribution if the government initiates long term planning and provides a more stable framework. Currently, what happens is that too many changes of policies take place too frequently, caused by changes in governments, ministers, etc. Further, in the globalising world, Dhaka entrepreneurs need to develop a more effective corporate culture, raise their standards, compete with China, India, Pakistan and even smaller countries like Nepal. To compete, it will be necessary to become aware of global trends. Long term planning is a must for future success.
Geeteara Loves Dhaka and says that there are no two ways about it and that she will never settle anywhere else. She loves all its negatives and positives. The growing overcrowding and traffic jams are the main minus points, but she says that the government is exploring various solutions, including improving water transports, building flyovers, etc. She also dislikes the growth of ‘concrete jungles’, replacing the greenery that she used to love, including the Dhaka University area’s beautiful red and orange flowers of the Krishna Chura tree, which no longer exists.
Although many people are always negative about Bangladesh, Geeteara sees many signs of progress that encourages her to feel positive. For example, women are increasingly becoming educated, and the government has made education up to grade twelve free for women if they cannot afford to pay. She says that even in the villages, remarkable changes are taking place. Healthcare improvements and the increase in hygiene awareness are improving women’s and people’s lives. One of Geeteara’s dreams is to see no poverty in Bangladesh and to see all men and women educated in the country.
She is married with two children, Farhan and Keya. While her husband Nazim Kamran Choudhury is her testing board, her children are her main assets.
