Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) vice president Md. Amin Helaly today said easy access to finance is essential for Cottage, Micro, Small and Medium (CMSME) industries to flourish. 

The FBCCI vice president said this during the first meeting of the standing committee on CMSMEs and rural industry development organized by the FBCCI held in the boardroom of FBCCI today.

Helaly said, "By introducing CMSME friendly banking system, we can ensure easy access to finance for entrepreneurs. Government incentives can also be disbursed through this arrangement."

He said several large industries are now producing the same products that CMSME entrepreneurs make and due to this, CMSMEs are losing their competitiveness, said a press release. 

In such a situation, Helaly said it is important to have policies on what kind of products large industries can produce and what cannot be produced.

In the meeting, another vice president of the FBCCI, Md. Habib Ullah Dawn said that consumer's tastes are changing every day. "In line with that, small and medium entrepreneurs should also diversify their products," he added. 

For this, he emphasized on research and development for the betterment of the CMSMEs. Entrepreneurs should maintain business documents to enjoy easy loan from banks, he added.

Director-in-charge of the committee Khan Ahmed Shuvo MP said, "One of the big challenges for the CMSMEs is market access." He also suggested the FBCCI to work with the government in this regard.

Committee chairman Mirza Nurul Ghani Shovon said that more government incentives are needed for the CMSMEs to overcome the post Covid-19 shock and face the challenges due to the Russia- Ukraine crisis. 

He thanked the FBCCI for signing a MoU with the Bengal Commercial Bank Limited regarding giving loans to the small and medium entrepreneurs on easy terms.

Other members of the committee demanded transparency and availability of financing for the CMSME.

FBCCI directors Hafez Harun, Abu Hossain Bhuiyan Ranu, former director Khandaker Ruhul Amin, general manager of SME Foundation Farzana Khan, committee co-chairman Ashrafur Rahman, KM Johir Faruk, Khaliluz Zaman, and other members were also present at the meeting.