Sadia Haque Takes South Asia eTrade for Women Advocate Role

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has appointed Sadia Haque, who is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of ShareTrip, as one of the “eTrade for Women” Advocates for South Asia from 2026 to 2027.

The new role makes Sadia a member of the group of advocates who seek to ensure increased participation of women in the digital economy and increase their access to opportunities resulting from digital trade. Sadia’s selection for the role marks a special occasion for Bangladesh as she becomes the first Bangladeshi to receive such an appointment.

Key Highlights:

• Sadia Haque becomes the first Bangladeshi eTrade for Women Advocate for South Asia
• She represents women-led digital businesses in South Asia’s trade and policy discussions
• Sadia has driven ShareTrip’s growth, innovation and six consecutive World Travel Awards

As part of her new role, Sadia will ensure that the views and concerns of women-owned companies in South Asia are heard regarding the issues of digital trade and the emerging digital economy. In addition to contributing to the eTrade for Women Masterclass and community programmes, she will help foster knowledge sharing and capability building between women entrepreneurs in digital businesses. The announcement of her new appointment will take place at UNCTAD headquarters in Geneva in September.

"I'm honoured to take on this role at a time when South Asia's digital economy is creating new opportunities for women entrepreneurs. I know from experience that building a technology business takes more than a good idea, it takes access to networks, capital, knowledge and an ecosystem that gives women the opportunity to lead. I hope to use this platform to bring the experiences of women entrepreneurs in our region into the policy conversation and help make the path easier for those coming next," Sadia said.

In the project, women leaders from different parts of the world are selected to become advocates for the women entrepreneurs in digital economy. They will act as voices for those women entrepreneurs and provide real-life perspectives coming from digital companies run by women. At the same time, they are supposed to promote creation of better ecosystem for women who can develop their digital businesses. Women advocates from such countries as Kenya, Egypt, Colombia, Malaysia, Senegal, Nigeria, the Philippines and India have already participated in the program.

Sadia Haque is the current CEO of ShareTrip, which she established along with Kashef Rahman in 2014. During her tenure at ShareTrip, the company has seen immense growth to become a leading digital travel brand in Bangladesh. One of the key factors that made ShareTrip one of the most innovative travel brands in the Bangladesh market was the introduction of user-friendly services that had never existed before in the Bangladeshi market, including automatic refund services and the ability to change and cancel bookings without extra hassle. In addition, she has ensured that ShareTrip became the leading travel platform in terms of hotel availability by creating the biggest collection of hotels and resorts in the country. In addition, ShareTrip has received World Travel Awards for the last six years since 2018.