Experts spoke at a webinar styled, ‘BBF SME Digital Summit 2020’, organized by the Better Bangladesh Foundation (BBF) in association with BBF-Global on Wednesday.
The event was moderated by Masud A Khan, chairman and CEO of BBF.
The small and medium enterprises (SMEs) need policy support to boost the sector’s contribution towards generating more jobs, experts said.
Besides, the banking sector needs to undergo a digital revolution to ensure that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have better access to financing as the sector is constrained by limited funding, they added.
Meanwhile, Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, chairman of the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), said the number of the cottage and ultra-small entrepreneurs in the country is around one crore while around three crores of people are related to them.
The eminent economist underscored the need for financing in this segment, which is seemingly not a good customer for banks.
While informing that the Tk 20,000 crore stimulus package aimed at the ultra-small, small and medium entrepreneurs announced by the prime minister in April is yet to be implemented, Ahmad said distributing this fund to target groups through banks is a challenging task.
Training should be provided before making any fund disbursement to prospective entrepreneurs. Besides, the SMEs need to be aware of what technologies they should use and where to collect them from.
“Efficient use of skills and technology will ensure productivity and subsequently profit,” Ahmad said.
