5 common facility centres to be set up to boost SME sector
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Monday
August 08, 2022

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
MONDAY, AUGUST 08, 2022
5 common facility centres to be set up to boost SME sector

Economy

Rafiqul Islam
02 July, 2022, 10:10 am
Last modified: 02 July, 2022, 10:20 am

Related News

  • Premier Bank, SME Foundation ink deal for CMSME loan distribution
  • NRBC Bank, SME Foundation ink deal to provide loan to SMEs
  • Country’s first digital factoring platform TREDX goes live
  • BRAC Bank to disburse 80 crore to entrepreneurs at SME Clusters without any collateral
  • UCB, SME foundation sign agreement 

5 common facility centres to be set up to boost SME sector

The common facility centres will decrease the small entrepreneurs’ production cost and expand the country’s export basket

Rafiqul Islam
02 July, 2022, 10:10 am
Last modified: 02 July, 2022, 10:20 am
Existing policies in Bangladesh to support SMEs are insufficient, poorly formulated, and lack harmonisation. Photo: TBS
Existing policies in Bangladesh to support SMEs are insufficient, poorly formulated, and lack harmonisation. Photo: TBS

The SME Foundation has taken an initiative to set up five common facility centres (CFCs) for the first time in the country to provide heavy machinery for small entrepreneurs, who cannot buy those machines due to a lack of capital.

Currently, many small and medium entrepreneurs take services from large companies for product finishing or other types of work, which increases their production cost, but often they do not get proper services.

Besides, a lack of advanced technology and research bar the enhancement of product quality and diversification. As a result, entrepreneurs cannot get out of the habit of manufacturing traditional kinds of products, said sources at the SME Foundation.

The CFCs will decrease the entrepreneurs' production cost, increase product diversification and quality, and expand the country's export basket, they said.

According to the SME Foundation, there are 177 clusters of similar products and industries across the country, all of which have been developed by private enterprises. Although these clusters have been formed on a small scale, the SME Foundation is working to expand these industries.

Some of the neighbouring countries have common facility centres for small and medium enterprises, but the SME Foundation in Bangladesh could not set up such centres as it did not have any funds of its own.

The issue of securing funds for the CFCs is not resolved yet, but the foundation is starting the process of setting up CFCs. After seeking expressions of interest for a feasibility study and business development plan for CFCs from 5-19 May, the SME Foundation received proposals from 10 consulting firms, which it is considering.

The sources of funding for the CFCs will be finalised after a completion of the feasibility study. The SME Foundation has discussed the matter with a number of development partners, said sources.

As per the SME Foundation's plan, common facility centres will be set up in Bogura Light Engineering Cluster; Jashore Light Engineering Cluster; Saidpur RMG Cluster, Nilphamari; Gobindaganj Hosiery Cluster, Gaibandha and Purba Matherbari Leather Cluster, Chattogram.

The light engineering cluster in Bogura – the largest in the country – started its journey in 1985 in the Bogura Railway Market area. Agri-machineries are produced in this cluster, where 75 foundries, 600 engineering workshops, and 500 agri-machineries and equipment centres are located, and 25,000-30,000 people are directly employed.

Jashore Light engineering cluster originated from the old bus stand area with fifty workshops, and currently there are 400 enterprises.

The RMG cluster of Saidpur started its journey in the early 1980s with only two factories. Currently, there are 700 factories in the area.

In this cluster, entrepreneurs manufacture high-quality jackets, trousers, shirts, and other types of garments, which have been exported to India, Nepal, and Bhutan since early 2000.

Gobindaganj Hosiery Cluster started in the 1950s, and now it is a complete industrial cluster with more than a thousand hosiery factories.

Purba Matherbari Leather cluster is located in Chattogram, which started its journey in the 1980s.

"The common facility centres will improve the quality of products as well as create opportunities for entrepreneurs to export their products," said Mirza Nurul Ghani Shovon, president of National Association of Small and Cottage Industries of Bangladesh (NASCIB).

India funded the establishment of its common facility centres through the announcement of a scheme. The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) of Pakistan has also completed constructing 16 common facility centres across the country under the Public Sector Development Programme.

Top News

SME / SME Sector / Common Facility Centres (CFCs) / SME Foundation / Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) / Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • TBS file photo
    Now 99% Bangladesh products come under China’s duty-free offer
  • Photo: TBS
    Production loss feared as zone-wise industrial weekly closure mulled 
  • Representational image. File Photo: Minhaj Uddin/TBS
    LC settlement fell by $1.17b in July

MOST VIEWED

  • July remittance hits two-year high
    July remittance hits two-year high
  • Bangladesh to resume talks for Ukrainian wheat import
    Bangladesh to resume talks for Ukrainian wheat import
  • Strong dollar will be a harbinger of hard times for much of the rest of the world. Photo: Reuters
    Dollar rate for LC settlement hits record high of Tk109
  • Unstable dollar, power disruptions see industries pinching pennies
    Unstable dollar, power disruptions see industries pinching pennies
  • Central bankers’ refusal to embark into ‘hard helicopter money’ experiment have been a good idea. Photo: Reuters
    Dollar price for LC settlement rising despite fall in kerb market
  • Representational image. Picture: Collected
    Gold prices soar by Tk1,954 per bhori

Related News

  • Premier Bank, SME Foundation ink deal for CMSME loan distribution
  • NRBC Bank, SME Foundation ink deal to provide loan to SMEs
  • Country’s first digital factoring platform TREDX goes live
  • BRAC Bank to disburse 80 crore to entrepreneurs at SME Clusters without any collateral
  • UCB, SME foundation sign agreement 

Features

Safa Shareef’s bridal make-up: Contemporary with a ‘deshi’ touch

Safa Shareef’s bridal make-up: Contemporary with a ‘deshi’ touch

18h | Mode
Infograph: TBS

Why a drastic fuel price hike is dangerous

1d | Panorama
A fuel price hike to fuel agony

A fuel price hike to fuel agony

1d | Panorama
Kamal Uddin Mazumder. Sketch: TBS

Rising foreign debt and balance of payments deficit: Does Bangladesh need to worry?

1d | Thoughts

More Videos from TBS

How Google Maps operates in Bangladesh

How Google Maps operates in Bangladesh

8h | Videos
Is BPC really in loss?

Is BPC really in loss?

9h | Videos
Reasons behind Putin-Erdogan's meeting in Sochi

Reasons behind Putin-Erdogan's meeting in Sochi

14h | Videos
Dr Jamaluddin Ahmed talks about recent fuel price hike

Dr Jamaluddin Ahmed talks about recent fuel price hike

14h | Videos

Most Read

1
Diesel price hiked by Tk34 per litre, Octane by Tk46
Energy

Diesel price hiked by Tk34 per litre, Octane by Tk46

2
Housing projects sprouting up by Dhaka-Mawa expressway
Real Estate

Housing projects sprouting up by Dhaka-Mawa expressway

3
July remittance hits two-year high
Economy

July remittance hits two-year high

4
Infographic: TBS
Banking

Dollar rate will be left to market after two months: Governor

5
Bangladesh to resume talks for Ukrainian wheat import
Economy

Bangladesh to resume talks for Ukrainian wheat import

6
A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker is tugged towards a thermal power station in Futtsu, east of Tokyo, Japan November 13, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
Energy

Summit proposes long-term LNG supply to Petrobangla

EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2022
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net