TREDX, Bangladesh’s first digital factoring platform for SMEs formally launched its operations on Sunday. The initiative will bring together Bangladesh’s SME finance agenda leveraging technology in delivering supply chain financing solutions to millions of SMEs. Md Khurshid Alam, executive director, Bangladesh Bank (BB) as the special guest launched the operation of TREDX market place,held in a city hotel in the capital. Also read: AIBL signs agreement with Padma Diagnostic Md Mesbahul Haque, director, payment system BB, Selim RF Hussain, chairman Association of Bankers, Bangladesh, Mominul Islam, Chairperson BLFCA and CEO of IPDC, Raja Debnath, CEO of ThinkBig Solution Limited, Abdul Kasem Khan, Chairman, ThinkBig limited, Dr Masrur Reaz, Managing Director, ThinkBig, among others, spoke in the function. Industrial Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun MP was the chief guest, but he cannot join due to sickness. TREDX, brought in by Thinkbig Solutions Limited, catalyzes innovative fintech solutions to bring together SMEs, banks and financial institutions, corporates and their suppliers to facilitate faster, safer, and more competitive access to supply chain finance. Read BdREN to get low-cost bandwidth for digital education The central bank issued guidelines for digital factoring in January this year. Abul Kasem Khan, Dr. M Masrur Reaz, and Raja Debnath are the three co-founders of TREDX. The Bangladesh financial sector has grown significant in recent decades, helping to provide financial intermediation for industrial growth and socio-economic development. Despite this success, financial inclusion gaps persist, especially among the middle segment of enterprises. Also read: Freedom fighters to get smart ID cards, digital certificates Though the contribution of the SMEs to GDP is 25 percent , their share of bank and NBFI portfolio is much less. Although SMEs account for more than 98 percent of non-farm enterprises in the country and bank lending to SMEs has tripled between 2010 and 2016, the large majority of MSMEs have limited access to formal finance. According to World Bank Group, the country’s SME sector suffers from a financing gap of Tk 237 billion (US$2.8 billion), across 804,041 SME enterprises where 60 per cent of women SMEs financing needs are unmet. TREDX will ensure that suppliers of good corporates always get the best discount rates and the corporates will be satisfied that their key suppliers always have access to low cost funds from all financial institutions. Read Digitalization: Global remittances flows expected to reach US$5.4 trillion by 2030 This platform also reduces the cost of operations of the financial institutions and this efficiency will be passed back to the suppliers in terms of better rates. The Government as one of the largest domestic Buyers in the country will also be interested in being a part of this platform so that even suppliers to the government get access to low cost funds.