'SMEs should adopt digitalisation to sustain in changed world'

Adoption of modern technology to attain sustainable growth in the SME sector is a must now in Bangladesh, experts said at a webinar today.

Without digitisation, they said, SMEs can neither flourish nor can they meet the demand from the local and international markets.

The Daily Star arranged the webinar titled 'Modernisation of the SME and ICT Sector in Bangladesh' on the occasion of World SME Day to bring forth different issues related to the SME sector and the ways technology can help this sector heal, recovering from the gloomy economic prognosis.

Moderated by Sohel Parvez, business editor of The Daily Star, Kazi Mahboob Hassan, chief business officer of Grameenphone Ltd; Imran Ahmed, deputy executive director, head of programs at Shakti Foundation, and Aziz Arman, managing director of Jatri Services Limited, took part in the webinar to share their opinions.

According to government statistics, there are more than 78 lakh small and medium-sized enterprises in Bangladesh, and around 3 crore people are involved in this sector.

SME sector contributes almost one-fourth of the country's total gross domestic product.

For the last one and a half years, the pandemic is wreaking havoc on Bangladesh economy, and the SME sector is also bearing the brunt.

However, different telecom companies, Grameenphone to be particular, are helping the SME sector in many ways.

Grameenphone has already brought 16,000 SMEs under the digitisation process to help them experience a quick economic recovery.

Discussants at the webinar talked about how tapping into technology can help struggling SMEs cope with the changed business reality.

Aziz Arman, managing director of Jatri Services Limited, said: "We are working for digitisation in the transportation sector. Digital adaptation of the bus operators, despite being small and medium sized businessmen, is remarkable."

"Technology is necessary for the flow of information. With the increasing adaptation of technology, the efficiency and productivity of the workers are also going up," he said.

Kazi Mahboob Hassan, chief business officer of Grameenphone Ltd, shared, "In the last two years, the business trends have changed. Interaction between businesses and their customers and suppliers, their operating model, and the nature of transactions have changed remarkably."

"But, for the SMEs or emerging businesses, the equation was different as their access to capital, infrastructural developments and supply chain was limited, so they were hit very badly," he said.

"In the changed reality, everything has changed starting from communication to access to market, supply chain, and capital. One of our customers from Khulna own a fleet of buses, which were lying idle during the pandemic. We have tried to help him operate those by making use of simplified and personalized technologies."

Grameenphone will keep helping the customers to operate their business the way they want with the help of technology, Hassan added. 

Imran Ahmed, deputy executive director of Shakti Foundation, said: "SME is a very important element of our country as this sector is employing around 2 crore people. However, proper information is critical to making good business decisions; this is where technology can play a good role."

"Digital disruption can help our SMEs to a great extent. Grameenphone along with other technology solution partners should come up with practical solutions to ensure ease of doing business for the SMEs."