Secretary to Industries Ministry Zakia Sultana has called for promoting the light engineering sector with targeted action plans. She made the call at the 8th meeting of the SME Development Working Committee organised by Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) in the capital on Monday. Ferdaus Ara Begum, CEO of BUILD, presented an analysis ‘Light Engineering Industry Development Policy 2022” at the meeting where Chattogram Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Mahbub Alam also attended. Secretary Zakia said, “We would extensively support the light engineering sector while exploring ways to set up a separate industrial park in BSCIC for the sector and giving special incentives to the sector that shares the domestic market worth $12 billion”. Addressing the need for promoting grassroots entrepreneurs of the sector and getting them on board, she said they would set out specific priorities in line with the Light Engineering Policy, which can be achieved at the earliest. Echoing the policy's objectives put up in the BUILD keynote and focusing on 4IR and ICT, the secretary informed that the ministry concerned has already been working to promote the sector following the agenda of SMART Bangladesh as per the vision of the premier. “While we have policies in place, without aligned action plans, we go nowhere. So, we will be setting out targeted actions that truly facilitate small entrepreneurs and hugely contribute to the employment generation and eventually export, and greening the sector is our top priority,” she said. Read more: PM Hasina announces ‘Light Engineering’ as product of the year CEO Ferdaus said, “Only five countries namely China, USA, India, Singapore and Japan import about $ 2.51 trillion, and Bangladesh enjoys market access in all these destinations, and if we export at least 1percent to these places, we can export about $ 25 billion from the sector”. She urged the ministry to consider a dedicated industrial park and industrial cluster, an e-commerce platform for LE entrepreneurs, re-skilling and up-skilling to form a technologically skilled workforce, enforcement of AI, rationalisation of raw material import duty and encourage TT export, strategy to attract domestic and foreign investment to organise the sector. The CEO recommended setting a year-wise GDP and export target along with a well-defined action plan to implement development strategies for this sector while appreciating the ministry for inclusion of the logistics sector as the high-priority sector and 4IR and ICT in the recent Industrial Policy formulated by MOI. Referring to different policies where the importance of LE has been highlighted, she informed about the LE Road Map prepared by BUILD for MoC, where the export projection for the sector in 2030 is $ 12.56 billion, with specific action plans that need supportive financing for implementation. Dr Md Mafizur Rahman, managing director of SME Foundation, Mohammad Monjurul Islam, additional director of Bangladesh Bank, Dr Nadia Binte Amin, president of WEND, Manzur Ahmed, adviser of FBCCI and Abdul Amin, director of Bangladesh Engineering Industry Owners Association (BEIOA among others spoke at the meeting. Read more: Light engineering products to boost Bangladesh export basket

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) Ferdaus Ara Begum on Wednesday said there is no alternative to the development of a synchronised multimodal logistics management system to reach US$ 2.5 trillion economy size and US$ 1.02 trillion in investment by 2041. She said logistics has been treated as the key factor to take investment decisions. The BUILD CEO said implementing the National Logistics Development Policy (NLDP) could be a way to ensure sustainable growth of the logistics sub-sectors. BUILD presented the NLDP framework at the third meeting of the logistics infrastructure development working committee co-chaired by Md. Tofazzel Hossain Miah, senior secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office, and Abul Kasem Khan, former Chairperson of BUILD. Zakia Sultana, Secretary, Ministry of Industries, was also present. Welcoming the stakeholders from the public and private sectors,  Tofazzel Hossain appreciated the role of the Ministry of Industries for including logistics as the thrust sector, which was approved in the cabinet recently and is holistically a new component following the recommendations of the committee secretarial services of which is being given by BUILD. The benefits of including logistics as a thrust sector will theoretically work out, and this would be a paradigm shift for the country in the future. “We would like to draft the logistics policy as the next step, and once the policy is in place, we will go for implementation, boosting the growth,” he said. Read:S Korea to provide $ 3 bn soft loans to Bangladesh: Ambassador Lee FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin said once the draft is shared with them, they will work to gather their comments on the policy and will be ready to extend all support. Underscoring more engagement from both public and private sectors, Abul Kasem Khan thanked everybody for working together on the policy, which is very much required as logistics is the number one issue for supporting business. CCCI President Mahbubul Alam suggested establishing a truck terminal in each and every port so that transportation and communication are made easier. BUILD Chairperson Nihad Kabir viewed that they need to be more ambitious in fixing the target of logistics cost reduction so they can challenge themselves. She suggested bringing NBR on board from the beginning and taking care of WTO-related issues as Bangladesh will graduate by 2026. President of DCCI Rizwan Rahman said there would be a need to organise sub-sectoral FGDs, and responsibilities can be shared in that respect. “Bonded warehouse facilities are different for different sectors which can be linked with the policy.” Dr Masrur Reaz, Chairman, Policy Exchange, thanked BUILD for developing a policy and suggested an integrated angle for each subsector. Naquib Khan, President, Supply Chain Management, suggested including the lead time issue along with the cost calculation. Nusrat Baby, transport specialist of the World Bank emphasised bringing convergence in all sectoral logistics issues and expressed their desire to extend all support for research and development in having a good logistics sector. Mohammad Lutfullah, senior private sector specialist of IFC said that formal inclusion of the logistics sector by the Cabinet in the industrial policy is much appreciated recognition from the government.

Experts during a recent event underscored the need for capacity building of women entrepreneurs to increase their participation in public procurement. Particular emphasis was laid on making them aware of the process to participate in bidding for tenders. The discussion "Public Procurement and the e-GP system" was hosted by Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) on May 26. The government procures a large number of goods, work and services every year through public tenders where the participation of women-owned businesses is very insignificant, the experts said. In Bangladesh, about 45 percent of the budget is spent on public procurement and the participation of micro, small, and medium enterprises is very insignificant here, said Md Faruque Hossain, former secretary to the government and procurement policy consultant at the World Bank. READ: Singapore to help Bangladesh to build ecosystem in e-commerce sector It is to be noted that the Industries Ministry is looking to the enactment of the Subcontracting Act 2022, which would ensure open tender and an earmarked amount for the cottage, micro, small, and medium enterprises. Ferdaus Ara Begum, CEO of BUILD, said some countries simplified public procurement rules and policies to increase the participation of women entrepreneurs. In Chile, women's participation has increased by 36.5 percent with the simplification of policies where women-owned businesses can be hired directly for procurement under $600. A similar threshold can also be announced in Bangladesh, Ferdaus Ara said.

Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) organised a virtual discussion programme on Tuesday to discuss a clear and universally agreed-upon definition of women-owned and women-led businesses in the country. BUILD and International Trade Centre (ITC)–SheTrades Programme, in collaboration with Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), decided to work together to develop and adopt the globally recognised ISO standard definition of Women Entrepreneurship in Bangladesh, said a press release. At the session, Ferdaus Ara Begum, CEO of BUILD, said women entrepreneurs are deprived of fair opportunities and scope despite their contribution to the economy. One of the main reasons for this is the lack of gender-disaggregated data in our country.   Adopting a global definition can allow women entrepreneurs (WEs) to be integrated with international business and exploit the benefits of policies announced by the government. She added. She also highlighted the importance of adopting the ISO standard global definition. She illuminated that collecting sex-disaggregated data at the national level could help evidence-based policymaking and international comparison. WEs could also get access to public procurement, the CEO added. Edison Yap, associate economic affairs officer of SheTrades Initiative of International Trade Centre, informed that the sector has been suffering from policy support because of the non-existence of harmonised global definition of women entrepreneurs. READ: Women entrepreneurs groomed on SMM, SEO ITC, ISO and others have prepared four WE definitions to ensure institutional recognition of their economic activities, said this officer. Adopting and integrating the ISO IWA 34:2021 standard of WEs definition in Bangladesh will make the segmented entrepreneurs eligible to avail of policy and monetary assistance. Countries should set the definition by considering the nation’s business environment and the demand of the women entrepreneurs’ community, Edison said. Meanwhile, Selima Ahmad MP said the Bangladesh Bank and the Ministry of Industries had provided definitions of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. “We need to consider the term women-owned business and the percentage of ownership while setting up the definition.” She assured to provide every possible support from the end of Parliament to formulate a globally recognised and harmonised definition of WEs. At the same time, Md Salim Ullah, senior assistant secretary of Ministry of Industries, said the Ministry includes a dedicated chapter regarding women entrepreneurs in the draft of the National Industrial Policy-2022. He requested to send the outcomes of the session to MoI so that they would be able to accommodate the remarks in the draft policy, which is going to be finalised very soon. Along with Selima Ahmad MP and BWCCI President, Representatives of the Ministry of Industries, several Chamber Presidents, and women entrepreneurs joined the virtual programme to share their views on the subject issue.

Nihad Kabir, former President of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), has taken over as the chairperson of the Trustee Board of Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) for the year 2022-23.  She succeeds Abul Kasem Khan, former President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), who was the Chairperson of BUILD for 2020-21, said a media release on Monday.  Nihad Kabir is a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.  She is a senior partner of Syed Ishtiaq Ahmad and Associates, one of the country's prominent law firms.  Apart from her role as an independent director on the board of Square Textiles Limited, Kabir also serves as a director of the Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL).  Also raed: Bangladesh elected Chair of UN Peacebuilding Commission She has previously chaired the Boards of BRAC EPL Stock Brokerage Limited and BRAC EPL Investment Limited and has been a board member of Bkash, BRAC Bank and several other listed companies.  She is a Senior Fellow and Board member of BIDS, a member of the Board of Governors of the Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre, and Chairperson of Ain o Salish Kendra, a legal aid institution. Kabir has been a member of the National Pay and Services Commission and the National Education Policy Committee, Government of Bangladesh.  She was also the Chairperson of BUILD for 2017. Also read: BUILD Chairperson meets new FBCCI president Abul Kasem Khan, former Chairperson, BUILD, will continue as a nominated Trustee Board Member from DCCI, while Syed Mohammad Tanvir, Director, CCCI is a nominated Trustee Board Member from CCCI for the years 2022-2023.  In addition to the new trustees, the Trustee Board for 2022 includes Md. Saiful Islam, President of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI); Rizwan Rahman, President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI); Mahbubul Alam, President of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI); Farooq Ahmed, Secretary General of MCCI; Afsarul Arifeen, Secretary General of DCCI; and Engr. Mohd. Faruque, Secretary of CCCI. Ferdaus Ara Begum, CEO of BUILD, is in the Trustee Board as the Member Secretary. BUILD is a public-private dialogue platform formed by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry .

Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) and Prime Minister’s Office jointly organised the Logistics Infrastructure Development Working Committee meeting on Saturday.  The virtual meeting was co-chaired by Md. Tofazzel Hossain Miah, Secretary of Prime Minister’s Office, and Abul Kasem Khan, Chairperson of BUILD. Md. Tofazzel Hossain Miah started by attesting that Bangladesh cannot move forward without supporting the private sector during this worldwide economic transition period.   He said, logistics needs more investment, and the existing policy needs reforms so that more investment is made. He recommended that the sector should be based on technology and skill. Adding that the private sector should also assist with value-backed data, he emphasised advocacy for logistics.  READ: Relaxation of GTF loan conditions to help private sector exporters: BUILD Abul Kasem Khan, Chairperson of BUILD informed that developing countries invest 9-10% of their GDP to improve their logistics environment.  “Success stories of China, India, and Vietnam stand out as best practices in logistics. The return on investment is one of the highest in the world. Structural reform is required to mitigate key bottlenecks of the logistics system in Bangladesh. Logistics sector should be declared as a thrust sector besides a high priority sector and proper incentives should be declared to attract local and foreign investment.” Rizwan Rahman, President, DCCI, focused on the specific solution as: (1) logistics should be included in the industrial policy as a sector, (2) privatisation of airports, seaports, railroads is the demand of time, 3) decentralisation of industrialisation should be incentivised to attract investment, (4) Special Procurement Act should be considered to prepare logistics policy.  Mahbubul Alam, President, CCCI, said that there is no policy on the in-out time of container trucks in Chattogram.  The establishment of a central truck terminal may reduce the congestion stemming from this and water connectivity may reduce over-dependency on the road, he said.  Ferdaus Ara Begum, CEO, BUILD in her presentation informed that BUILD and the Ministry of Industries are working together to include logistics as a high priority sector and declare investment incentives for logistics and its sub-sectors in a separate chapter of the upcoming National Industrial Policy 2021.  READ: India's Reliance Group to build mega chemical project in UAE Formulation and implementation of the National Integrated Logistics Policy or Master Plan could help attract investment and increase export competitiveness to realize the targets of 8th Five Years Plan and Perspective Plan 2041.  It was decided in the meeting that two issues will be presented in the 3rd meeting of LIDWC, (1) framework or position paper will be prepared to set the national target of reducing logistics cost and (2) outline to prepare National Logistics Policy/Plan/Strategy.  Tatiana Peralta Quiros, Senior Transport Specialist of World Bank Group made the keynote on Reducing Logistics Costs to Enhance Bangladesh’s Trade Competitiveness and Export Growth.  She said that logistics cost increases the overall production and business operation cost by 4.5-48%. Implementation of three initiatives like reducing dwell times at Chattogram Port and national highways congestion along with initiation of national logistics strategy would increase overall export of Bangladesh by 19%. Captain Kamrul Islam Mazumder, Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (BICDA) said that increased cost of fuel will increase the cost of doing business as well as the cost of container handling transport cost while Syed Ershad Ahmed, President, AmCham stressed on proper utilization of Pangaon Port and Dherasram Project which should be linked with temperature-controlled logistics. 98% of the freight forwards operators in Bangladesh suffers from lack of modern technology and equipment. Kabir Ahmed, President, BAFFA urged on proper utilization and equipping of the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, one of the most important gateways to export for Bangladesh. Sectoral recognition and policy reform for the sub sectors of logistics should be ensured. The meeting was attended by Zubaida Nasreen, Director General-I, PMO, Anisur Rahman, Director-1, PMO and Mohammad Lutfullah, Senior Private Sector Specialist, International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group including representatives from 16 government ministries and private sector leaders.

The proposed budget deficit is above 6% of GDP amounting to Tk 2.11 trillion, which may reach to 8% as the revenue collection has been showing slow trend in pandemic period, according to BUILD, a business development platform, in its budget reaction. The Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) thinks the deficit will mainly be filled taking loan from the banking sector and foreign loan. Also read: New budget unveiled with focus on protecting lives and livelihoods The dependence on foreign financing has been increased 162% than previous fiscal which is 'alarming', it said. The social safety net will be expanded, higher than the current fiscal. Government has given enough emphasis on health safety issues, which need proper implementation. Also read: New budget: Tracking prices going up and down In terms of export diversification in Medical and Personal Protective Equipment(MPPE), extension of tax exemption benefits up to June 2022 may encourage export diversification in this sector, BUILD said. On the other hand, it seems, sluggish investment will continue as COVID uncertainty remains, and private sector credit growth is still at a lower level(8.7%), according to BUILD.

The demand for pulp, the main raw material for producing paper, has been growing and green jute-based pulp can meet the increasing local and global demand. China and European Union are closing their paper mills because of higher production costs and environmental reasons and Bangladesh can fill the void. However, the pulp is now being imported and produced locally from recycled waste paper whose quality is not satisfactory, Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) CEO Ferdaus Ara Begum said Monday. Read Will achieve self-sufficiency in jute seeds: Agriculture Minister Ferdaus Ara was addressing the online dialogue on "Paper Pulp from Whole Jute Plant: Potential and Way Forward" organized by BUILD. Mohammad Abul Kalam, additional secretary of the Ministry of Textiles and Jute, said the economic viability of using the whole jute plant needs to be considered. "Rigorous research will have to be conducted. Also, the practical scenario needs to be considered. An initiative can be taken to initiate technical assistance for public participation (TAPP) and project on whole jute plant-based paper pulping," he added. Also read: BUILD wants to assist govt in promoting recycling, sustainable business practices Dr Md Monjurul Alam, former director-general of Bangladesh Jute Research Institute, said cottage industries can be developed locally to run paper pulp manufacturing industries that will use the whole jute plant. However, Dr Sarwar Jahan, director (Pulp and Paper) at Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, said: "It is not feasible to run the small-scale pulp industries because whole jute plant-based pulp will cost more than $11,00 per tonne." Read Jute: The Greenest Alternative to Plastic Bags

Bangladesh Bank will provide a total of Tk 60,000 crore financing to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by 2023 to ensure economic resilience that will enhance GDP, employment, and inclusive development. Deputy Governor of the central bank Abu Farah Md Naser said this at the Virtual Dialogue titled “Creating Resilient Recovery for Businesses through Enhancing Investment Opportunities: A Case of Southwest Bangladesh.” Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) with support from the PROKAS program of the British Council organized the dialogue. As the Chief Guest of the programme, Md Naser also said the Bank has taken the initiative to extend the timeline of the current stimulus package by 2023. “Some Tk2,000 crore collateral-free loan opportunity for SMEs made available under the credit guarantee scheme should be utilized as much as possible,” he added. He held the example of City Bank’s Leno financing model that uses digital technology to process loan applications in the shortest possible time and encouraged other banks to follow the example. For banks operating in grassroots level, he encouraged digital technology to ensure that loan evaluation and processing can be managed in the shortest possible time. Also read: DCCI for SME act, new definition of CMSMEs Md Naser thanked BUILD for organizing the meeting to address the concerns of cottage, micro, and small enterprises from remote regions. “The central bank is also facilitating expansion of aggregate demand by nurturing Bank-MFI linkages that has a base of three crore people across the country,” he added. During the discussion, the Mayor of the Mongla Municipality of the Bagerhat District Sk Abdur Rahman, mentioned that the neediest section of the population: the cottage enterprises, fishermen and the working class have largely missed the benefits of the package. He suggested that banks should provide not only credit but also technical support to ensure that the credit is properly utilized for repayment. “Training and capacity building provided by the government at the local level should be scaled up,” he encouraged speedy completion of the Mongla airport to ensure accelerated investment and development in the region. BUILD Chairperson Abul Kasem Khan noted that the COVID-19 has affected business all around the country, especially the MSMEs. The timely initiatives by the Prime Minister and the government to prepare the country to tackle the health challenges as well as economic effects of the pandemic combined with the all-out action by the Bangladesh Bank and other government agencies were instrumental in protecting the country from the worst consequences. Also read: CMSMEs can now take term loan under stimulus package “Aside from supply side interventions, there also need to be demand side initiatives so that the income and consumption of the ordinary people can be boosted to reinject dynamism in the economy.,” he added. He requested for social safety bond for the small entrepreneurs and some tax changes in the Tax policy and extend tax incentives so that large scale industries can also sustained. BUILD’s CEO Ferdaus Ara Begum informed in reply to a point raised by BB that BUILD is working closely with the Ministry of Industries to get the definition of cottage, micro, small and medium enterprises to ensure that smaller and vulnerable businesses receive more policy priority and support. “As BUILD continues to engage in research and facilitation of the businesses in Mongla and Bagerhat the support from the central bank will be essential,” she also added. In the keynote presentation, Md. Tahmid Zami, Additional Research Director of BUILD noted that in the local BSCIC Industrial Estate of Mongla, around 50% businesses are out of operation and only 20% workers are retained in many factories. “The coconut oil mills, rice mills, small traders, and many other sectors have faced tremendous shock due to the COVID-19. Finance should be distributed to the cottage, micro and small enterprises without stringent requirements for rescuing the endangered businesses,´ Tahmid added. He referred the e-survey in the form of a KPI conducted by BUILD during February-March, 2021 covering chamber representatives, local Government and BSCIC, Bank officials and Businesses. Also read: SMEs are lifeline to country's economy: Tipu Munshi Husne Ara Shikha, General Manager of SME and Special Credits Department informed about 6% of total money disbursed for SME have gone of Southwest region, in case of women, in number it is about 5.43% of the total and noted that there are both positive signs and mixed results in distributing credit to SMEs in the region. Syed Abdul Momen, Head of SMEs of BRAC Bank mentioned that the definition of SMEs should be modified to target the cottage, micro and smaller enterprises more effectively. The decentralized credit management of BRAC and the agent banking sets a good example for the banking industry of the country for meeting the needs of the businesses in the rural level. S Humayun Kabir, Vice President of Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association requested for a proper insurance policy for the shrimp industry as well as higher incentives such as cash subsidy to ensure better development of the high-potential sector. Cold storage facility for the shrimp and fish sectors should be boosted. He further suggested to consider the sector as agro-based sector while extending support facilities. In case of getting finance Banks and FI request for higher collateral considering uncertainty of the production. Md. Mofidul Islam Tutul, Director of Khulna Chamber of Commerce and Industry stressed on the prospects of the jute sector.

The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) will form two new sub-committees on recycling and green growth under the existing Sustainability and Green Growth Working Committee (SGGWC).