AHSAN HABIB

The trade licence issuance process needs to be simplified and moved online while simplification of the bank loan process is also needed to help boost women owned businesses, according to a report by Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD).

At present, women owned businesses constitute 7.2 per cent of the 80 lakh businesses in Bangladesh, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

In its report, the private think-tank said the formalisation of e-commerce-based businesses should be easy.

Collateral free loans, simplification of value-added tax (VAT) and other tax policies, popularisation of the BSCIC online market and export facilitation through the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) is also recommended.

The report was prepared after arranging a number of awareness workshops countrywide for women owned business along with women’s chambers.

The objective of the workshops was to increase awareness on general business information and the business registration processes along with export-import procedures and the online services adopted by the government.

Build reached an audience of around 27,000 through its virtual workshops. The report will be published today.

Women entrepreneurs face challenges mostly for business formalisation, cumbersome trade licensing process and high renewal fee, getting collateral free loans and loans from stimulus packages, lack of knowledge on effective marketing and branding, and inadequate distribution channels.

Other challenges shared by women owned business are: lack of a coordinated platform for women entrepreneurs’ trade facilitation, lack of knowledge regarding TIN-VAT registration and return submission, lack of demand-based training facilities, applying for trade licences in case of online business, poor buyer-seller linkage within and beyond the country, raw material availability and branding non-traditional products.

Many women entrepreneurs were adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic and so, the think-tank recommends ensuring easy access to loans and incentives for them.

The trade licence issuance process needs to be simplified and made fully digital. In addition, the company registration process as well as licence and renewal fees need to be rationalised for micro or cottage women entrepreneurs, it said.

Besides, the renewal frequency of trade licences can be extended from one year to two to seven years as it may reduce some hassles for entrepreneurs, the report says.

Also, the process of securing digital identification numbers, trade licences and tax identification numbers should be integrated so that entrepreneurs can run their business comfortably.

A large number of women entrepreneurs operating micro and cottage businesses through Facebook can be registered under digital business identification numbers, BUILD said.

Commercial banks can arrange training and established help desks that can be more functional so that women entrepreneurs can be informed about loan information and come up with the related documents to qualify for getting collateral free loans.

Guidelines for processing small loans can be prepared and circulated as the process for securing low amounts of credit should not be same as that of a big loan.

Popularisation and implementation of the credit guarantee scheme should be followed by each scheduled bank so that women entrepreneurs can apply for loans without collateral and Bangladesh Bank should take effective steps in this regard.

Women chambers can initiate support for their members and help get the group loan facilities provided by the BSCIC.

A help desk at the VAT office could assist women entrepreneurs to find the category of exempted and non-exempted sectors in respect to VAT registration.

To facilitate trade, women entrepreneurs recommend launching country-wise import requirement identification processes. This means identifying which products are needed by each country.

The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) can expedite continuous training on export-import procedures and it can also share the yearly trade fair calendar so that potential participants can better prepare. The organisation could also reduce registration fees for women entrepreneurs.

Meanwhile, the BSCIC could enhance marketing facilities both locally and globally along with establishing buyer-seller linkage for women entrepreneurs through online channels.

A system can be developed in BSCIC to collect products from a number of cottage or micro entrepreneurs and export those products through a single platform.

The EPB can also help identify suitable sectors for businesswomen considering the local and international demands so that they can expand operations, BULD said.