They lamented that financing of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) at a rate of 10 percent interest by the commercial banks as per the central bank's directive is yet to be implemented.

"Despite commitments made by political leaders on many occasions, a little has been done for women empowerment and entrepreneurship development," said Selima Ahmed, president, Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI) at a seminar on Budget Aspiration of Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh held at the CIRDAP auditorium in the city yesterday.

Raising the demand for allocating Tk 70 crore in the next national budget, she said of this amount, Tk50 crore should be earmarked for funding the women entrepreneurs, while the remaining Tk20 crore would be utilised for their capacity building, market research and development and product diversification.

The BWCCI chief also sought the Bangladesh Bank's intervention in implementing its directive to all the commercial banks that was given in a circular issued on July 19, 2005, which asked for collateral-free loans for the SMEs.

Selima underscored the need for in-depth training, business counseling, information sharing session and marketing assistance for the for women entrepreneurs.

The women's chamber earlier placed their demands to National Board of Revenue (NBR) and Bangladesh Bank.

The chamber will also meet Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam soon to discuss about their demands.

Ruba Rummana, Assistance Professor, Department of Economics, Ahsanullah Science and Technology University, presented the keynote speech at the seminar.