India’s experience in SME dev can be used in Bangladesh

Bangladesh may use the Indian experience in the development of its small and medium enterprises, analysts said at a discussion between the CII and FMC delegations at the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) office in Dhaka yesterday.

For developing cooperation, SME Foundation Managing Director Md Mafizur Rahman called for signing a memorandum of understanding between the SME Foundation and its Indian counterpart.

While chairing the meeting, FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin said Bangladesh has huge potential in the cluster-based SME sector.

Both countries can benefit if Bangladesh can harness the Indian experience in flourishing small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs), he added.

The FBCCI president then said around 80 per cent of the businesses operating in Bangladesh are SMEs and so, there is no alternative to SME development to keep the economic pace afloat.

He also urged banks to come forward to disburse more loans to SMEs.  Uddin also recommended implementing a "one district, one product" campaign and developing clusters based on raw materials available in the districts.

Dr Tamal Sarkar, senior adviser of the Foundation of MSME Cluster (FMC) in India, came up with a power point presentation highlighting the development of Indian SMEs.

Echoing the event's Bangladeshi speakers, he said both India and Bangladesh share the common nature of SMEs, market demand and culture. Therefore, Indian experience may appear to be effective in improving the Bangladeshi SME scenario.

Surendra Srivastava, former general manager of the Small Industry Development Bank of India (SIDBL) and FMC India's consultant, and Amit Kumar, director of CII, also spoke at the meeting.

FBCCI Senior Vice President Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, Vice-Presidents Md Amin Helaly and Md Habib Ullah Dawn, Director and Secretary General Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque were also present at the meeting.