It is extremely encouraging to see that, after much deliberation, the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) of Bangladesh will finally have a central e-database under the SME Foundation with support from the government’s a2i program.
Bringing the vast number of small businesses under one platform was always going to be a challenge but one that has been a long time coming.
For too long, our small businesses -- which make up approximately 70% of the country's economic activity and also account for over 80% of the total industrial employment of the country -- have been neglected from having official registrations and having a proper identity as an enterprise.
This made receiving government services extremely difficult, not to mention, it also deprived the government from monitoring and evaluating the sector, collecting tax revenue, and ultimately, determining the best policy practices moving forward for the sector’s development and growth.
The hope now is for this e-database, which is to be piloted in four upazilas/police stations, to quickly be scaled up, and making sure that it is developed cohesively and efficiently, and is not yet another forward-thinking initiative that fails to meet expectations.
Make no mistake about it, the MSME sector has and will continue to play a vital role in ensuring that Bangladesh reaches its goals, whether that be graduating to a middle income nation, fulfilling the SDGs, or eventually becoming a developed nation in the next two decades.
To that end, bringing these businesses under one platform is a very timely initiative, and the SME Foundation and a2i deserve plaudits.