Boosting pvt sector key challenge now, says Salehuddin

Creating an enabling situation to give a boost to the country's private sector remains one of the key challenges, said Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed on Sunday.
"In fact, the challenge now is to boost the private sector as well as small and medium entrepreneurs," he said, adding making funds available for them is also vital.
"In this regard, we are trying to talk to various donors and agencies," he also said.
The adviser came up with the observations in a session with entrepreneurs following the grand finale of the Bangladesh chapter of the 9th Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA).
The event was organised by the Entrepreneurs' Organisation with the support of United Commercial Bank (UCB) at a hotel in the capital.

Responding to a query on bringing back laundered money from abroad, Ahmed said it is difficult to give a time frame for that.
"Money has definitely been siphoned off from Bangladesh. Now we are trying to identify the people who did that," he said, adding communicating with foreign stakeholders is a long process.
"Pragmatically speaking, we cannot recover all the money, but our aim is to give a message so that no one does this in future," said Ahmed, who had earlier headed the central bank as the governor.
He said boosting the confidence of honest businessmen is important as many have become fearful of unnecessary scrutiny by regulators.
About facilitating the country's business environment, he said the national single window (NSW) has been partially opened and it will be fully operational in March.
Responding to a query, he said there are inherited challenges for the interim government.
"From outside, you will not understand the deep cuts we have been inflicted on," Ahmed said without elaborating.
However, macroeconomic stability has returned at present, though not fully, he observed.
Regarding non-performing loans (NPLs), he said good banks and not-so-bad ones would bounce back.
"But we have to rethink some of the banks that are not really capable," he said, comparing them with abandoned ships.
UCB Chairman Sharif Zahir and City Bank Vice Chairman Hossain Khaled mostly questioned the finance adviser during the session, which followed the award distribution ceremony.
Student entrepreneur Soumik Hasan Shranto of BRAC University became the champion by presenting his business named "Dubotech".
He won a prize money of Tk 0.5 million and was qualified to compete next in the GSEA Global quarter-final to be held in India's Nagpur in March.
Established in 1987, the Entrepreneurs' Organisation is a global network of over 20,000 business leaders across 61 countries. Its Bangladesh chapter started operations in 2016.
GSEA is a premier global competition and a flagship programme of the Entrepreneurs' Organisation designed to recognise and support student entrepreneurs worldwide by providing invaluable mentorship and networking opportunities to those who have innovative ideas and projects at national and international stages.
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