The easy access to finance is essential for the cottage, micro, small and medium enterprise (CMSME) industries to flourish, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Vice-President Md Amin Helaly said on Monday.
He said this during the first meeting of the Standing Committee on CMSMEs and Rural Industry Development organised by the FBCCI in Dhaka, according to a press release.
Helaly said, "By introducing CMSME friendly banking system, we can make sure the easy access to finance for entrepreneurs. The government incentives can also be disbursed through this arrangement."
He said several large industries are now producing the same products that CMSME entrepreneurs make and due to this, CMSMEs are losing their competitiveness.
In such a situation, Helaly said, it is important to have policies on what kind of products large industries can produce and what cannot be produced.
In the meeting, another vice president of the FBCCI, Md Habib Ullah Dawn said that consumers’ tastes are changing every day. "In line with that, small and medium entrepreneurs should also diversify their products."
For this, he laid emphasis on research and development for the betterment of the CMSMEs. Entrepreneurs should maintain business documents to enjoy easy loans from banks, he added.
Director-in-charge of the committee Khan Ahmed Shuvo said, "One of the big challenges for the CMSMEs is market access." He also suggested the FBCCI to work with the government in this regard.
Committee Chairman Mirza Nurul Ghani Shovon said more government incentives are needed for the CMSMEs to overcome the post-Covid-19 shock and face the challenges due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
He thanked the FBCCI for signing an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the Bengal Commercial Bank Ltd regarding giving loans to small and medium entrepreneurs on easy terms.
Other members of the committee demanded transparency and availability of financing for the CMSME.
FBCCI director Hafez Harun, Abu Hossain Bhuiyan Ranu, former director Khandaker Ruhul Amin, General Manager of SME Foundation Farzana Khan, committee co-chairman Ashrafur Rahman, KM Johir Faruk, Khaliluz Zaman, and other members were also present in the meeting.
