The National SME Business Plan Competition 2013 has been announced open Wednesday at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka to encourage the young people to get engaged with the entrepreneurial activities.
Industries Minister and SME Foundation chairman Dilip Barua formally inaugurated the event as chief guest.
After having introduced the event last year, the SME Foundation is organising the second SME business plan competition.
President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DCCI) Sabur Khan, Editor of The Financial Express Moazzem Hossain and economic analyst Prof Mamun Rashid were also present at the inaugural function chaired by the Foundation’s acting managing director Md Mujibur Rahman.
The interested participants can download application forms from the Foundation’s website www.smef.org.bd or collect it from the SME Foundation office from September 25 to December 31.
Application can be individual or in group consisting of not more than four members.
There will be a selection committee which, after scrutiny and assessment of the applications, will pick up 150 contestants.
The selected contestants will be put on a daylong training about process and rules of preparing business plans.
After the training, the participants will be given one month time to complete their business plans and submit to the SME Foundation.
Finally, three best plans will be announced by a jury board. The first prize winner will receive Tk500,000 while the second prize is Tk400,000 and the third prize Tk300,000.
The SME Foundation introduced the National SME Business Plan Competition last year. In the last year’s competition, Samia Sharif and Mahmudul Islam Tapu of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) won the first prize for their idea to produce sodium silicate from rice bran.
Dilip Barua said the SME sector is playing a big role in generating employment opportunities in Bangladesh.
“Last year, as many as 48,000 jobs were created where the SME had contributed a significant part,” the minister said.
Besides, Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) created 15,000 new entrepreneurs during last fiscal in the country.
Dilip Barua stressed the need of producing more entrepreneurs, having a long-term policy for the SME sector and the establishment of good governance.
DCCI chief Sabur Khan laid emphasis on implementing the selected plans through financing from the SME Foundation.
“If the plans are not implemented, the contest will be worthless. I believe the SME Foundation has enough fund to finance the projects,” he said.
According to Sabur Khan, Bangladesh can achieve over 7% growth in gross domestic product through expanding its manufacturing sector.
“In our efforts to create new entrepreneurs, DCCI has already trained principals of 300 polytechnic institutes on entrepreneurship education. The principals came from across the country and the training was held on Monday,” DCCI president cited.
Prof Mamun Rashid identified the lack of access to financing as the main obstacle towards developing entrepreneurship in the country while the Financial Express editor Moazzem Hossain found a natural ability of being entrepreneurs among the Bangladeshi people.
Mamun Rashid noted the lack of efficiency in some interested people in making entrepreneurial decision.
“While making decision to launch an enterprise, some face a kind of problem, which is their inability to understand what enterprises can bring business for them and what cannot,” said Mamun Rashid, who is an eminent banker in Bangladesh, emphasising the importance of providing entrepreneurial consultancy to those who want to start a venture.