Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– Bangladesh and India is going to form a joint taskforce for strengthening cooperation between policymakers and stakeholders for the promotion of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) of the two countries.
“We’ve decided to constitute the taskforce soon as per the ecommendation of Bangladesh Bank governor. India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IBCCI) will act as coordinator of this taskforce,” IBCCI President Abdul Matlub Ahmed said at a press conference after a seminar on MSME jointly arranged by Bangladesh and India in the capital Dhaka on Saturday.
The taskforce will have representatives from Bangladesh Bank and Industries Ministry of Bangladesh, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) and Integrated Association of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises of India (IAMSME), he said.
He also said the taskforce will work in coordination with SIDBI, NSIC and IAMSME maintaining the guideline of Bangladesh Bank (BB). “Bangladesh will be able to exchange experience with these organizations and get ideas from them for the development of our MSME sector.”
Speaking at the seminar as the chief guest, Bangladesh Bank Government Atiur Rahman proposed to form a joint taskforce for the development of MSME sector of the two countries.
“Both Bangladesh and India see MSME development as crucially important for hastening inclusive economic growth, and clearly there is ample scope for deepening mutually beneficial cooperation and support between MSME policymakers and stakeholders of the two countries,” the governor said.
Stressing the need for further deepening bilateral Bangladesh-India engagement in MSME promotion, the governor said there has been substantial progress in Bangladesh in buildup of bank-led BB-supervised linkages between banks, MFIs, mobile telephony and smart card-based IT platforms in reaching out to MSMEs with loans and other financial services.
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pankaj Swaran said Bangladesh and India will have to work through coordination for mutual benefits and promotion of MSMEs of the two countries.
NSIC’s Chairman-cum-Managing Director Dr HP Kumar, SIDBI’s Chairman- cum-Managing Director Sushil Mohnat and IAMSME’s Chairman Rajib Chawla presented three separate papers on MSMEs at the seminar.
BBN/SSR/AD-23Mar13-9:20 pm (BST)
