SMEs face market, financing, tech challenges: SME Foundation
A two-day buyer-seller meet began in the city’s Agagaon area today
Entrepreneurs of the country's small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) are grappling with a range of challenges, including product marketing, access to adequate financing, technological capability, product quality enhancement, and workplace health and safety, according to the SME Foundation.
A two-day buyer-seller meet aimed at connecting SME cluster products and women-led enterprises with markets, as well as helping established businesses identify new suppliers, began yesterday at Agargaon, Dhaka.
The opening ceremony was chaired by SME Foundation Chairperson Md Musfiqur Rahman, with Md Nuruzzaman NDC, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Industries, attending as the chief guest, according to a press release.
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Highlighting the scale of the sector, Md Musfiqur Rahman said that a 2013 study by the Foundation identified 177 clusters across 51 districts, employing nearly 20 lakh workers—74% male and 26% female. The annual turnover of 70,000 enterprises in the SME cluster is around Tk30,000 crore.
The event, organised by the SME Foundation with support from the World Bank, will remain open from 10am to 7pm.
The meet features 25 SME clusters from districts including Kishoreganj, Tangail, Sirajganj, Srimangal, Bogura, Kushtia, Gaibandha, Jashore, Manikganj, Patuakhali, Pirojpur, Rangamati, and Jamalpur, showcasing sectors such as leather, light engineering, handloom, hosiery, fashion and home textiles, Nakshi Kantha, wood and bamboo, pottery, and jewelry. Forty-six women-led enterprises are also presenting their products and supply capabilities.
Under its credit wholesaling and incentive schemes, loans totaling around Tk185 crore have been disbursed among roughly 2,800 entrepreneurs.
Despite production capacity across sectors like light engineering, handloom, Nakshi Kantha, small garments, handicrafts, furniture, bamboo and cane, jewelry, and leather, many entrepreneurs continue to face hurdles in securing market positioning, obtaining financing, and adopting modern technology, according to a recent SME Foundation analysis.
