ADB to support women entrepreneurs

The government yesterday signed $200 million loan agreements with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help small- and medium-sized enterprises in rural Bangladesh gain access to medium- and long-term credit.

“Developing SMEs is a key to accelerating growth, and reducing poverty, income inequality, and regional disparity,” said Kazuhiko Higuchi, country director for Bangladesh of ADB.

“This project will help small businesses and cottage industries in rural areas, especially those run by women, with better access to long-term capital. The project will also help women entrepreneurs develop skills to manage their enterprises more efficiently.”

The Second Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development Project primarily focuses on small firms outside the metropolitan areas of Dhaka and Chittagong.

At least 15 percent of the assistance will be for women entrepreneurs. Priority will be on women engaged in subsistence trade and retail activities, who typically have limited access to finance.

The project includes $2 million in technical assistance from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction to help establish incubation facilities with the aim to promote entrepreneurship.

This assistance will also help develop SME clusters that will boost access to long-term financing, and strengthen backward and forward linkages with the formal sector, particularly the export-driven industries.

The Manila-based donor and the Financial Institutions Division of the finance ministry is the executing agency of the project, while Bangladesh Bank and the SME Foundation are the implementing agencies.