Speech of Mr. Hossain Khaled, President, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI), at theLaunching Ceremony of “I Am SME of Bangladesh”organizedI Am SME of Bangladesh in cooperation with Bangladesh Bank and Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM).

Date: 29th July 2015, Wednesday

Time: 11:00 a.m.

Venue:Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel Dhaka,

Airport Road, Dhaka Cantonment,

Dhaka 1206, Bangladesh

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Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

  • Hon’ble Governor of Bangladesh Bank and Chief Guest of today’s programme Dr. Atitur Rahman;
  • Mr. S K Sur Chowdhury, Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank;
  • Mr. Sukumal Sinha Chowdhury, Convenor, Organizing Committeeand Chief advisor lamSMEofBangladesh;
  • President of lamSMEofBangladesh;
  • Mr. Rajive Chawla, Chairman of lamSMEofIndia;
  • Mr. K MHabib Ullah, Chairman, SME Foundation;
  • Mr. Pierre Mayaudon, His Excellency Ambassador & the Head of Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh;
  • Mr. Pankaj Shwaran, His Excellency High Commissioner of India;
  • Mr. Ravindra Nath, Chairman, National Small Scale Industries Corporation of India;
  • Dr. Cecep Effendi, DG, Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP);
  • Distinguished Chairman, CEO & MD’s of different Commercial Banks and Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFIs);
  • Distinguished Business Leaders;
  • Representatives from the Media-both Electronic and Print;
  • Distinguished Guests and Participants;
  • Ladies and Gentlemen;

Assalamu-Alaikum and Good Afternoon to you all.

On behalf of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) and on my own behalf, I take this opportunity to thankslamSMEofBangladeshfor inviting me as Special Guest to the at the Launching Ceremony of “I Am SME of Bangladesh” organized I Am SME of Bangladesh in cooperation with Bangladesh Bank and Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM). I am very much delighted to be here today.

Distinguished Guests

Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) is a dynamic umbrella organization of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and also the largest and most active Chamber of the country.DCCI is a symbol of unity and aspiration of the business community in and around Dhaka, the then provincial metropolis. For more than five decades it has beenplaying a significant role in ventilating problems and grievances of the illustrious entrepreneurs of commerce & industry as well as negotiating with the competent authorities for appropriate solutions thereof both at national and international levels.

Since its establishment the Chamber has grown rapidly and today it represents more than 5000 members which include large, medium and small companies and firms. About 70% of its members are from small and medium group while 30% are from the large sector. Bangladesh government has given thrust to development of SME sector where DCCI has been playing a vital role in providing inputs on behalf of their constituencies. As the largest chamber of the country it is the first point of contact for business in Bangladesh. It facilitates trade and investment for both local and foreign entrepreneurs and caters to their various needs.

With its five decades of practical experience in operating and facilitating trade, investment and economic activities, the chamber has sincerely working to strengthen its research and information services with a view to providing the SMEswith relevant data and information concerning the emerging changes that are taking place in the world economic scenario under the framework of WTO.

To promote SME sector and development of the country in the past DCCI takes different activities, its organized “Vision-2021”, “SME Financing Fair”, “Bangladesh 2030: Strategy for Growth”, “Positioning Bangladesh: Branding for Business” and “DCCI Entrepreneurship and Innovation Expo”.In 2005, it arranged Business Award to promote SMEs. Hon’ble Prime Minister handed over the awards for best innovative entrepreneurs, young entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurs.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have special advantage to contribute to the economic development of a country. SMEs are creators of more employment opportunities and therefore hold an important key to employment generation and thus poverty reduction. SMEs use relatively lesser capital to create jobs than the large enterprises.

In order to achieve the target of creating employment as per vision of the government, vision of industrial growth of the country, develop socioeconomic life of the citizen and keep positive impact on GDP, Dhaka Chamber of commerce and Industry (DCCI) in association with Bangladesh Bankorganized “DCCI Entrepreneurship and Innovation Expo” in 2013

Ladies and Gentlemen

The country is now dependent on importing of many types of raw materials, intermediate goods & capital machinery and equipment for its industrial and agricultural development. SME sector should be developed in such a way so that raw material and intermediate products can be partly produced at home. If we can source raw materials to large scale industries by encouragingSMEs then we could have more of foreign currency retention. Some of the important SME sectors of Bangladesh are Handicrafts, Readymade Garments (RMG), Light engineering, Leather & leather goods, Frozen Foods, Ceramics, Jute, Electronics, Agro processing Industries, Information Technology, Software etc.

It is seen that we have only one predominant sector i.e., RMG. About 80 % of total export earnings come from RMG sector. But we have to pay overwhelming major portion of the export earnings for importing of raw materials of RMG sector. It is not safe to depend on only one sector for sustainable Industrial growth and backward linkage Industry. If we cant go as planned in this sector with the more competitive exporters like China, India & Srilanka, Vitenam then this will end up with severe disaster. So we should develop other prospective sectors to survive in the increasing global competition. We need to develop a short, medium and long term SME development strategy and dynamic policy in a planned manner to face such situation boldly in the days to come.

Distinguished Guests

I wish all the success of today’s programme. I am confident that “I Am SME of Bangladesh” will play an important role in boosting domestic production, employment generation and poverty reduction in developing economies like Bangladesh.

Before concluding, I would only reiterate the DCCI’s maxim:the Best of Bangladesh is Business. This is our spirit to move further, and in this respect we would very much appreciate the cooperation from all.

Once again I express my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to “I Am SME of Bangladesh” for inviting me as Special Guest to this essential and time befitting programme.

Thank you.

Mr. Hossain Khaled

President,

Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI)

Date: 29th July, 2015.

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