‘SME entrepreneurs need more loans’

Bangladesh’s Small and Medium Enterprise sector and entrepreneurs need more loans to increase employment opportunities, State Minister for Industries Kamal Ahmed Mojumder said Sunday.

“More funds should be allotted regularly to overcome the coronavirus-induced losses,” he said at the daylong buyer-seller conference organised by the SME Foundation at Parjatan Bhaban area in Agargaon.

Mojumder was the chief guest at the inauguration programme presided over by the SME Foundation Chairperson Professor Dr Md Masudur Rahman. Industries ministry’s Additional Secretary Kazi Khakhawat Hossain and SME Foundation’s Managing Board Member Hasina Newaz were special guests. 

SMEs and entrepreneurs are considered fundamental to innovation, economic growth and job creation.

In his opening speech, SME Foundation’s Managing Director Dr Md Mofizur Rahman said they had been organising such fairs to introduce the products of SME entrepreneurs to top-level buyers of the country.

Mojumder lauded SME Foundation’s vital role in increasing employment opportunities by providing easy loans and proper training to the entrepreneurs.

SME Foundation Chairperson Masudur Rahman said the entrepreneurs were lagging because of a lack of connectivity, product and marketing. “On top of that, ensuring the fair price of the products is also a big challenge. SME Foundation is working to resolve the entrepreneurs’ problems,” he said.

The SME Foundation organised the sixth buyer-seller conference to provide SME entrepreneurs with a marketing-friendly platform. 

Around 60 promising women entrepreneurs from across the country participated, displaying their boutique products, jute, leather, handicrafts goods, jewellery items, among others, to find the best buyers.