The SME Foundation has established a common facility centre (CFC) for shoemakers in Kaluhati village under Rajshahi's Charghat upazila, a move that is expected to help businesses improve the quality of their products.

State Minister Mohammad Shahriar Alam, also a ruling party lawmaker from the area, inaugurated the facility on Friday. It has been set up under a Tk 2.5 crore project.

Located on a 3,000 square-feet site, the CFC has already bought 13 machines to cut, stitch and finish leather and 15 more machines would be purchased gradually, said Md Mafizur Rahman, managing director of the state-run agency.

It came after the SME Foundation conducted a study in the village in 2013. The foundation has already provided training to shoemakers in the last seven years.

Located on a 3,000 square-feet site, the facility centre has already bought 13 pieces of machinery and 15 more would be purchased gradually

"The facility will help shoemakers improve the quality of their products using modern technologies. Our dependence on imported leather goods will also lessen once the initiative turns out a success," Rahman said.

Some 85 shoemaking entrepreneurs and 500 workers dependent on them would directly benefit from the CFC, said Md Shohrub Hossain, upazila nirbahi officer.

The facility is the first of its kind in the country and will be run by a committee headed by Hossain.

Shoemakers say the CFC will remarkably improve their lives by helping them improve the quality of their products and increase productivity and access new markets.

"We are very happy to have this CFC in our village," said Ranju Ali, president of the Kaluhati Paduka Cluster.

"It will help us make not only better shoes but also other leather goods and sell them at a higher price."

The first shoemaking factory in Kaluhati was set up in 1980. Witnessing its success, other villagers established factories, turning the village into a hub for shoemaking with their sales network spread across Bangladesh.

After the Awami League-led government came to power in 2009, Shahriar Alam, then a ruling party lawmaker, started supporting small industries.

The village had 10 factories in 2010 and it now boasts 65 units, producing five lakh pairs of sandals and loafers annually and providing jobs to around 10,000 people, said Sohel Rana, general secretary of the cluster.

"The CFC will help shoemakers learn new skills and improve their business management. It will also help us manufacture new leather goods, including belts, wallets and ladies' bags."

Speaking at the event, the state minister said that the CFC is a major initiative of the government to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

"The government is committed to providing all necessary support to SMEs to help them contribute to the economy."

The SME Foundation plans to set up more CFCs in other parts of the country.

In a 2013 study, the foundation identified 177 clusters in the light-engineering, handloom, embroidered quilt, garment and handicraft sectors across the country.

Some 70,000 businesses in the clusters generate an annual turnover of Tk 30,000 crore and have employed 20 lakh workers, Rahman added.