SME fair begins tomorrow
FE Report | Friday, 15 March 2019
The National SME Products Fair 2019 is set to begin tomorrow (Saturday), aimed at promoting products in the local and international markets.
This time around 67 per cent of the participants are women entrepreneurs while no foreign products will be allowed to exhibit and sell at the seven-day event.
Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun is expected to inaugurate the fair at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the capital.
State Minister for Industries Kamal Ahmed Mojumder and Industries Secretary Md. Abdul Halim will also be present at the inaugural function as special guests.
KM Habib Ullah, chairperson of Small & Medium Enterprise Foundation (SME Foundation), came up with the announcement at a press conference in the city on Thursday. The SME Foundation is organising the fair for the seventh time.
Md. Safiqul Islam, managing director of SME Foundation, and Mirza Nurul Ghani Shovon, Director, SME Foundation, among others, spoke at the function.
Mr. Habib Ullah said: "If we want to bring our country at the apex of the development and prosperity, there is no alternative to making the SME entrepreneurs."
The banks are reportedly claiming that they are investing around Tk 1.4 trillion per year as loan for SME development as per the Bangladesh Bank directive, but the real entrepreneurs are not getting the loan actually, he said.
Mr Md. Safiqul Islam said that a total of 280 SME entrepreneurs, consisting of 188 women and 92 men, will sell and showcase their products like jute goods, agriculture, food and leather products, electronic and electrical items.
Apart from this, the entrepreneurs will showcase light engineering products, handicrafts, plastic and synthetics items, and information technology, design and fashion products, he said.
To promote the SME entrepreneurs and SME products, the SME Foundation will arrange four seminars -Non-Financial Barriers Facing the SME Women Entrepreneurs, Relationship Banking for Sustainable Finance: SME Foundation Experience, Intellectual Property Rights for Growth of SMEs, and Opportunities of E-Commerce for SMEs in Bangladesh.
The SME Foundation will announce the "National SME Entrepreneurs Award-2019" for their role in the country's economic development at the fair. Each winner will get Tk 100,000, a trophy and a certificate.
Besides, a sellers-buyers meeting booths, media centre, information stall and blood donation programme will be arranged during the fair.
The fair will have no entry fee and will remain open for all from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm.