India's SME experience can be beneficial for Bangladesh: Experts

Bangladesh may use the Indian experience in the development of their SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) to utilise the huge potential in this sector.

Speakers opined this at a meeting held between Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FBCCI) and the delegation of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Foundation of MSME Clusters (FMC) of India on Wednesday.

FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin said, "Bangladesh has huge potential in the cluster-based SME. Both the countries can benefit if Bangladesh can harness the Indian experience in flourishing this sector."

Mentioning that 80% of the businesses operating in Bangladesh are SMEs, he said, "There is no alternative to SME development to keep the economic pace afloat. The banks should come forward to disburse more loans to SMEs."

He also recommended implementing the "one district, one product" campaign and developing SME clusters based on raw materials available in the districts.

Md Mofizur Rahman, managing director of SME Foundation, proposed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between SME Foundation and the Indian counterpart for developing cooperation in this regard.

Dr Tamal Sarkar, senior advisor of the Foundation of MSME Cluster (FMC) in India, highlighted the development of Indian SMEs with a power point presentation. He said, "Both India and Bangladesh share the common nature of SMEs, market demand and culture as well. Therefore, Indian experience may appear to be effective to improve the Bangladeshi SME scenario."

Former GM of Small Industry Development Bank of India (SIDBL) and FMC India's consultant Surendra Srivastava and CII director Amit Kumar also spoke at the meeting.

FBCCI Senior Vice President Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, Vice-Presidents Md Amin Helaly, Md Habib Ullah Dawn, Secretary General Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque were also present at the meeting.