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The presence of syndicates in the economy and the market is the main reason why small entrepreneurs are failing and the rising prices of goods are making the markets unstable, State Minister for Industries Kamal Ahmed Mojumder has said.
“People are severely distressed and the ministers concerned should not remain in their posts if they cannot break this syndicate,” he said on Thursday.
“The way these syndicates are growing in Bangladesh, if we can’t break them to alleviate the suffering of 17 crore people, then I think people like us should not be ministers,” he added.
The state minister made the remarks while speaking at a workshop, titled “Role of Media in Development of SME Sector in Post-Covid-19 Situation,” jointly organised by Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) and SME Foundation (SMEF) at ERF in Dhaka.
The event was moderated by ERF General Secretary Abul Kashem and presided over by SMEF Chairman Md Masudur Rahman. SMEF Managing Director Md Mafizur Rahman presented the keynote.
Masudur called upon the big corporate entities to be more responsible because small and medium businessmen are dropping out because of the way they do their business. “The big fishes should allow the small fishes to grow rather than devouring them.”
The state minister also said, “If the small and medium entrepreneurs, as well as the SMEF, had their loans waived off like the big defaulters, their businesses would have grown more. But that is not happening.”
He blamed the syndicates for the rising cost of living. “The commodity prices in the market are skyrocketing. Why? We are not running low on anything. We are self-sufficient in every aspect. This is happening only because of the syndicates.”
Kamal also criticised the situation in the banking sector. “I have been in politics for 50 years in Dhaka. I saw many people walking around with briefcases and many did not have money. But today, they own banks.”
“I think the Finance Ministry should reveal the names of those who took money from the state-run banks and became owners of private banks. I don’t know why they don’t do it. It’s a big question,” he added.
Some individuals are holding the banks and the entire economy hostage and these syndicates need to be taken down, he said, urging journalists to play an important role to do that.
Referring to the allocation request of Tk 500 crore for SMEF in the upcoming national budget for FY2023-24, the state minister said, “I think this foundation deserves Tk 5,000 crore because a huge amount of money is being wasted on various projects. “If that wasn’t happening, there would’ve been no problem in allocating more money to the foundation.”
