Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce (BCI), a business body representing solely industrial sector, will organise an exclusive business conference for the country's small and medium enterprise (SME) sector in September next.
"We hope we'll organise the event with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as the chief guest," newly-elected BCI President Anwar-ul Alam Chowdhury (Pervez) told the media at a city hotel on Monday.
Flanked by other newly-elected BCI executive members, he said the SME sector should get the highest priority in government policy decision for economic development.
BCI Senior Vice-President Helal Uddin, Vice-President Priti Chakraborty, and Adviser Monjur Ahmed were, among others, present on the occasion.
Pervez said the government's goal to become a developed country by 2041 requires huge investment from the private sector.
"Unfortunately, private investment is not picking up at the required pace," he said. "It'll be tough to achieve the goal if the SME sector doesn't make progress and young entrepreneurship is not developed across the country."
He demanded a five-year tax exemption for SME and young entrepreneurs, saying all local and foreign banks must provide collateral-free loans to them at the lowest interest rate.
He suggested the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority to take initiatives to train up SME owners and young entrepreneurs for skill development.
Pervez said many small and young entrepreneurs do not know how to start a business in a formal way or take bank loan for boosting their business.
He pointed out that the rate of loan defaulters is the lowest among SME investors and women entrepreneurs.
"We'll try to resolve their problems by providing necessary training," he said.
Reiterating the demand for not raising gas price, Pervez said many sectors, including spinning and textile mills, are incurring huge losses in their businesses.
"They'll incur more losses if the gas price is raised," he said.
Latest News