EEF for agro-based sectors remains suspended

Rezaul Karim
The overall activities of Equity and Entrepreneurship Fund (EEF) for agro-processing industries have remained suspended for more than a year due to some procedural complexities, officials said.
But the authorities concerned are still uncertain when they can resume its operation, they added.  
"At present, we are not receiving applications from entrepreneurs of agro-based sectors due to upgrading of the system," a high official of Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) told the FE Thursday last preferring anonymity.
"A good number of qualified and competent entrepreneurs are now waiting to apply for agro-based projects. But we cannot make them sure when we would be able to resume the process of receiving applications," he said.
"We have stopped receiving new applications from entrepreneurs in a bid to get applications online for agro-based sectors," a central banker told the FE last week.
A website has already been developed and necessary preparations have been taken in this regard, he mentioned.
A number of potential agro-based initiatives have been lagging behind as the authority is yet to resume taking applications from entrepreneurs of this sector, industry insiders said.     
Funds for information and communication technology (ICT) sector remain unused due to lack of an adequate number of qualified entrepreneurs, competent sources said.
Agro-processing and its different sectors get low funds, but ICT sector has surplus funds, they mentioned.
ICT sector still has more than Tk 4.23 billion under EEF. On the other hand, over Tk 2.48 billion for agro-based sectors has not yet been disbursed, according to EEF unit of ICB.  
The ICB sanctioned over Tk 29.35 billion for 1,621 agro-based sectors under the EEF until June last. About Tk 10.64 billion was released against 643 projects, according to the latest ICB data.
The ICB sanctioned over Tk 1.59 billion in favour of 105 projects under ICT sector. Of the amount, only Tk 887 million was disbursed against 75 projects until June last, the data mentioned.
The government allocated Tk 18.25 billion in favour of the two sectors since inception of the EEF, data showed.
The government set up the EEF in the fiscal year (FY) 2000-01 to help promote entrepreneurship and create employment in areas of agro-based industries, excluding conventional sub-sectors such as rice and flour mills, fishing trawlers, cold storage and information technology (IT).
Earlier, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) used to manage the EEF. In June 2009, the central bank handed over its management to the state-owned ICB. The ICB Capital Management Ltd acts as the project appraisal arm for the EEF.
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