'Basic development not possible without SME sector growth'

The 10-day 10th National SME Product Fair-2022, to be held from 24 November to 3 December at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, Dhaka, will be very helpful for small and medium entrepreneurs in the country to overcome the dual shock of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

The fair will be open to visitors daily from 10am to 8pm and there will be no foreign or imported products to be displayed or sold at the event.

We will promote the products manufactured by the SME entrepreneurs in the local and international markets through the fair. Moreover, the event will help develop better relationships and communication among entrepreneurs in this sector. 

There will be seminars, discussion sessions on developing products and services with the participation of parties concerned at the event. The creative opinions and suggestions of the participants will help bridge the gap between consumers and entrepreneurs.

Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun will be present as the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of the fair at 10am on 24 November. State Minister for Industries Kamal Ahmed Majumder, Industries Secretary Zakia Sultana and FBCCI President Md Jasim Uddin will be present as special guests on the occasion.

There will be 350 stalls of 325 business entities at the fair. Besides, a secretariat of the SME Foundation to promote its services, a media centre, blood donation centre, stalls of different institutions under various ministries like BITAC, BSTI, BCIC, BSCIC, Bangladesh Food Safety Authority, Brac Bank, Bank Asia, Eastern Bank, IPDC Finance, etc, will be at the venue.

The fair has prioritised agriculture, food processing, ICT, leather and leather products, light engineering, jute and jute products, plastics and handicraft sectors in line with the National Industrial Policy 2022.

Around 60% of the entrepreneurs participating at the fair this year are women and 40% are men. Around 130 companies from the design sector, 45 food/agricultural processing products companies, 38 handicraft, 36 leather goods and 35 jute products companies are participating at the fair, among others.

So far, 1,886 entrepreneurs have sold products worth Tk32.88 crore and received orders worth Tk53.50 crore in the previous nine editions of the fair. The SME Foundation has also arranged such fairs in 126 areas in different districts of the country.

According to the Bangladesh Bank, there are about 60 lakh SME entrepreneurs in the country and around 90% of the country's industrial units belong to this sector.

According to the SME Foundation, the sector contributes 25% to the country's GDP while the overall contribution of SMEs in the industrial sector is 32%.

The special role and contribution of small and medium industries in economic development and poverty alleviation is well-recognised around the world. The average contribution of the SME sector to the national economy of various developed countries in the world is more than 50%, but it is 25%-27% in our country.

However, among the entire industrial sector, total employment in the SME sector is about 80%. As of 2013, there were 78 lakh SME entrepreneurs in the country, but I think that by 2022, the number has increased to more than 1 crore.

The government established the SME Foundation in 2007 based on various experiments and policies. The foundation started with a fund of only Tk200 crore. It is currently conducting various activities in line with different government policies, including the Industrial Policy-2016, SME Policy-2019, 8^th Five Year Plan, SDG-2030 and Vision-2041.

The foundation is working to increase the contribution of the SME sector to GDP from the existing 25% to 35% to implement SDG-2030.

The SME sector is one of the most affected sectors amid the world economic crisis created by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. There are fears of a downward trend in the demand for the products and services of this sector due to the situation. As a result, the SME entrepreneurs in the country need financial and other incentives.

The foundation has so far provided various levels of training to more than 40,000 entrepreneurs – 60% of them women – under about 1,300 training programmes.

We have a separate wing for women entrepreneurs. So far, around 300 special training programmes have been arranged for more than 9,000 women entrepreneurs to develop their skills. From 2007, the number of women entrepreneurs has increased by 120% and 14 associations for women entrepreneurs have been formed across the country.

The biggest problem in this sector is the high risk faced by the entrepreneurs with their small capital. Getting long-term loans at a low interest rate is also a big problem. We are working to solve these problems with advanced technology, international business communication, etc.

Dr Masudur Rahman is the chairperson of SME Foundation

(The write up has been prepared based on an interview of the author taken by The Business Standard's Joynal Abedin Shishir)