The Small and Medium Enterprise Foundation has called for regular budget allocations to implement the newly drafted SME Policy 2025 effectively, along with consistent monitoring of its progress.
Md Mushfiqur Rahman, chairman of the SME Foundation, emphasised the need for such measures during a workshop titled 鈥楽ME Policy-2025: Opportunities and Challenges: Role of the Media鈥�, organised in collaboration with the Economic Reporters Forum on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Industries is drafting the SME Policy 2025 to replace the expired 2019 policy. The new policy is expected to be implemented from July 2025 to June 2030.
In the workshop, SME foundation general manager Mohammad Jahangir Hossain said that the newly drafted SME policy 2025 features 83 strategies, 310 activities, and 10 strategic goals to boost small and medium enterprises in Bangladesh.
Md Mushfiqur Rahman highlighted that the cottage, micro, small, and medium enterprises sector contributes 28 per cent to the country鈥檚 GDP and employs 85 per cent of the industrial workforce.
The policy proposes short-term (1 year), medium-term (2-3 years), and long-term (4-5 years) strategies.
It emphasises organising regular meetings, financial allocations, and establishing SME Foundation offices outside Dhaka for broader impact.
The foundation has also been tasked with increasing financial resources and monitoring the implementation efforts.
The SME Foundation has undertaken numerous initiatives to support SMEs, according to the chairman, including hosting national and regional fairs, facilitating international market access for over 200 entrepreneurs, and recognising 57 successful entrepreneurs with the National SME Entrepreneur Award.
These efforts include promoting women entrepreneurs through conferences, incentive programmes, product fairs, and creating online supplier platforms, he said.
Taskin Ahmed, president of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, identified challenges such as limited access to financing, high interest rates, and inadequate marketing opportunities, calling for targeted plans to address these barriers.
He said that the medium sector should be placed in a separate category to increase the supply of credit to small entrepreneurs, and the process for obtaining credit should be made easier.
Experts, however, earlier told 抖阴精品 that the SME Policy 2025 has been drafted without any major changes in strategies adopted in the recently expired policy that failed to achieve the main targets.
ERF president Doulat Akter Mala, and general manager Abul Kashem, among others was present in the event.
