Women entrepreneurs call for start-up fund, easy loans

Women entrepreneurs on Wednesday called for setting up a start-up fund to avail easy loans from, highlighting the numerous forms of discrimination they have to face on their path to becoming successful business leaders.

Speaking at the International Women Entrepreneurs Summit at a hotel in the capital, they highlighted the difficulties women entrepreneurs face in getting various documents, including trade licences and environmental clearance, to get bank loans.

At the event organised by the Bangladesh India Business Council (BIBC) and the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida), Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury also spoke on the problem of getting financing for women entrepreneurs.

She said they need policy support and easy bank loans, both of which would aid in the development of women entrepreneurs in the country.

Mentioning that the government has a provision for collateral-free loans of Tk10 lakh or more for women entrepreneurs, she said unless it was properly implemented, women would face hurdles in mobilising the collateral.

In many cases, Bangladesh Bank's information to the commercial banks is not disseminated in the right way, Shirin said.

She urged all parties to come together for this purpose, adding, "We know that women are not defaulters."

Salman F Rahman, the private industry and investment adviser to the prime minister, also said women are still victims of gender discrimination.

"I still think there are lots of challenges for women. There is discrimination against them. Men should change their mindset and come forward in this regard."

Later, in a session titled Graduation of SMEs on the first day of the two-day summit, Nihad Kabir, chairperson of the Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD), referred to a study report which said the loans the small, medium enterprises (SMEs) receive from banks account for only 6% of the financing they need.

They provide the rest of the financing themselves or borrow from other lenders.

She said the banks tell small entrepreneurs that they do not have required accounts and documents needed for financing, adding that there should be a scope of providing loans to small entrepreneurs based on only some necessary documents like the national ID cards.

Nihad Kabir, also a former president of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), emphasised on the formation of special financial institutions of the government to support women entrepreneurs, direction from the central bank to banks so that a certain amount of money is given to SME entrepreneurs and strengthening of public private partnership.

Syed Nasim Manzur, managing director of Apex Footwear Limited and former president of MCCI, said trade licences and environmental certificates, along with the outdated customs and VAT rules, are major obstacles for SMEs including women entrepreneurs.

Besides, reluctance to accept women entrepreneurs as bosses is also acting as a barrier.

He said some positive discrimination or favouring the women will be needed to bring them forward.

Md Mafizur Rahman, managing director of SME Foundation, said at least a Tk1,000 crore start-up fund from the government is required to help the SMEs progress. Interest rate for loans from the fund should be a maximum of 2% and it should be disbursed on the basis of the NID, trade licence and certificate only.

Those who will repay the three-year loan properly should get back the interest they paid at the end of the term.

He said small entrepreneurs should get loans on the basis of only three or four documents. But bankers want a bunch of documents.

Small entrepreneurs did not get much money from the fund already provided by the government as the big businesses took it, he added.

British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson, Aarong Managing Director Tamara Abed and President of the Women's Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dr Harbeen Aro Rai, also spoke at the programme moderated by Farzanah Chowdhury, managing director of Green Delta Insurance Limited.

MA Mannan, planning minister, Jashim Uddin, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and industry (FBCCI), Muhammad Aziz Khan, chairman of Summit Group, Dr Ahmad Kaikaus, principal secretary to the prime minister, and Lokman Hossain Miah, executive chairman of Bida also spoke at the inaugural session while Mantasha Ahmed, president of Bangladesh-India Business Council (BIBC), presided over the ceremony.

The two-day summit will conclude on Thursday.

Medical equipment industry needs more investment

Speaking at the Health and Wellness session of the summit, Mousumi Islam, managing director of Promixco Group, highlighted how Bangladesh had successfully produced quality medical equipment during the Covid-19 crisis, adding that it also brought to fore the regulatory gap in Bangladesh when it came to importing such equipment from abroad.

She said almost 90% of medical equipment and devices come from abroad.

"Almost 4,000 categories of medical equipment are used in our country. Importers are just showing an assurance on paper. We are not assured of the quality only on a paper. This is the big challenge for the medical equipment and device industry in Bangladesh," she said.

Mousumi said the country's market size was now almost $3billion. "In the last five years, almost a billion dollars has been invested. We have succeeded in our pharmaceuticals but we have a huge dependency on medical equipment and devices."

She said there was a lot of room for investment in the sector and called for a private-public partnership.

Agro sector needs smart value chain

Kazi Inam Ahmed, president, Bangladesh Supermarket Owners Association, presenting the keynote paper at the discussion panel on agro food and processing, said there is a post-harvest loss of 25%-50 in the country mostly due lack of cold storage facilities for fruits and vegetables (except for potatoes), adding, there is a huge investment potential here.

Minimising the post-harvest losses will stop the price volatility of different crops and will help stabilise farmers' income. Along with ensuring food safety and quality, it will also create the possibility of exports by reducing import dependency, he said.

He further said there is a dynamic manpower in this country for agricultural work along with 17 research institutes. The environment in Bangladesh is favourable for cultivation all year around. Using this special feature, the country has 500 agriculture-based factories, 200 export-oriented factories and five lakh direct employment in the sector.

There is an investment opportunity of $1.5 billion in the next five years in this sector, including in agro-processing and marketing, irrigation and water management, cold storage, and climate smart agriculture development.

A huge investment opportunity in developing the value chain of some products like pineapples and jack fruits by establishing infrastructure and cold storage also lies here, his paper reads.

Senior Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh, said, "There is a big difference in the cost of different products in Bangladesh and in other countries. If we cannot reduce the cost, we will lag behind in the competitive export market."