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SMEs faced with fund, marketing crises

Discussion told

Star Business Report
The country's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are not only suffering from insufficient access to finance, they also have to go through difficult communication and marketing systems that hold back a sustainable growth of the sector, speakers said at a roundtableyesterday.
A lack of initiative to export new types of locally produced, goods and organising programmes to train the entrepreneurs have also slowed down the sector's growth, the discussion was told.
“If the government provides adequate assistance to the SMEs, they will help alleviate poverty,” said Asif Saleh, managing director of Driven Partnership, a nongovernment organisation.
“The government needs to build a publicprivate partnership to help the SMEs get better access to finance. To ensure a sustainable SME growth, the government also needs to establish a better communication and marketing system to introduce newer products to the mainstream market," he added.
He was speaking at the roundtable on Sustainable SME Growth: Time to Look Beyond Access to Finance jointly organised by Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BED and DriVen Partnership at the BEI auditorium in Dhaka.
Three case studies from the northern part of the country were presented at the discus sion, where problems of the entrepreneurs involved in producing vegetables, blankets andTtilshi tea were highlighted.
Monowara Talukdar, managing director of Monowara Tulshi Tea in Gaibandha, a northern district, said her produce gained popularity among the health-conscious people both at home and abroad within a short span. She said she faces difficulties due to a lack of better and attractive packaging system and initiative to export her products.
“If the government provides us with necessary support, it will help us eliminate poverty from one of the Monga-prone regions of the country," said Monowara.
Syed Nasim Manzur, managing director of Apex Adelchi Footwear Ltd, suggested that the entrepreneurs should produce goods keeping in mind the market demand to ensure sustainable growth of the sector.
He also called upon them to change marketing strategy, if necessary, to enter and compete in the mainstream market
Farooq Sobhan, president of BEI, said a sustainable growth in the private sector and in SME is closely connected with the development of the country.
Syed Akhtar Mahmood, senior manager of Investment Climate Fund, Bangladesh, and Iffat Nawaz, director of Drishtipat, a human rights organisation, were also present.