SMEs can take loans against work orders: SME Foundation

The SME Foundation and the Think Big Solutions will work together to aware the entrepreneurs along with banks and financial institutions of that the small businesses can take collateral-free loans against their work orders.

The information was shared in a meeting between SME Foundation and Think Big Solutions at the foundation's conference room in Dhaka today, according to a press statement of the foundation.

SMEs are an important sector in alleviating poverty, creating jobs and achieving economic growth, Mafizur Rahman, managing director of SME Foundation, said at the event.

Various types of conventional bank loan activities are going on for the development of the SME sector, he said.

However, the process of taking bank loans is not easy for the small businesses due to various constraints, Rahman said.

The entrepreneurs are also struggling for lack of working capital, he said.

As per the Economic Census 2013 of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, there were 78.8 lakh business establishments in the country that year.

Among them, 87.52 per cent are cottage industries, 1.33 per cent micro, 10.99 per cent small, 0.09 per cent are medium and 0.07 per cent are large industries.

The CMSMEs sector contributes at least 25 per cent of the country's gross domestic product and generates as much as 90 per cent of the jobs in the private sector.