The government will facilitate marketing of small and cottage industry products aiming to support the entrepreneurs, mainly women of the sector at the district level, an official has said.
Keeping this in view the government will also encourage women entrepreneurs to establish women's chambers at the district-level aiming to make them economically self-reliant and increase the country's economic growth.
Under the move the authorities of Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) which is under the Ministry of Industries (MoI) will take measures that include proper marketing of women entrepreneurs' products and ensure their access to finance/ loans to help them run their respective cottage industries properly.
"We will take a set of measures to help the cottage, micro, small and medium enterprises (CMSMEs) especially of women entrepreneurs at the district level," chairman of BSCIC Md Mostaque Hassan told the FE on Friday.
He said that they held an online meeting with the women entrepreneurs last week.
"We (BSCIC) have suggested that they (women entrepreneurs) form district chambers and also an apex trade body for women entrepreneurs that will be dedicated to help the district women's chambers of commerce and industry for the betterment of women entrepreneurs at the grassroots level," he said.
He also said that the BSCIC assured the women entrepreneurs of providing plots to women entrepreneurs in district BSCIC industrial estates and help them hold/arrange fairs at all districts to showcase the women entrepreneurs' products.
He said that the BSCIC was considering memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with district-level women's chambers of commerce and industry for broader co-operation to help the CMSME sector flourish.
He said the MoUs that would be signed soon would help the district women's chambers to act as a guarantor of loans taken by women entrepreneurs.
Out of 64 districts, there are only 16 districts where there women's chambers of commerce and industry including Dhaka, Chattogram and some others.
Mr Hassan said that they (BSCIC) had been providing loans to the CMSME entrepreneurs from their own fund of Tk 200 million.
The BSCIC requested the Ministry of Finance through the Ministry of Industries to provide them (BSCIC) Tk 6.0 billion (600 crore) for providing loans to the women entrepreneurs at the district-level.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com