Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – The Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) has taken different initiatives to develop small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across the country in line with the policy instructions of the Bangladesh Bank (BB).

The BB already taken different initiatives for identifying different clusters around the country and is encouraging all stakeholders for further development of the sector. Various small-scale manufacturing clusters have already been identified by this time in 20-25 districts of Bangladesh.

The Bank disbursed BDT 3650 million in 43 clusters among 3343 clients from January to September last year. A total of BDT 182750 million has been disbursed, registering a 60.34 per cent growth in 2012 from BDT 113980 million of the previous calendar year.  

The IBBL has contributed to create more than 0.80 million employment opportunities through providing BDT 170440 million among 46000 SME clients across the country. Now the IBBL holds the top position, having 17 per cent share of aggregate credit disbursements by the country’s financial institutions to the SME sector.

Currently, SMEs constitute 80 per cent of business in Bangladesh, contributing 25 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) compared to 60 per cent in Pakistan where the business entities in the SME sector contribute to 15 per cent of its GDP. In China, 99 per cent of the business units belong to the SME category with their contribution to its GDP at more than 60 per cent.

According to the official data, more than 27,000 medium-sized, enterprises and about 150,000 small-sized enterprises are contributing to achieve sustainable economic growth. Of the total number, 14 per cent SMEs are involved in the manufacturing sector, 15 per cent in the service sector, 22 per cent, are involved in the production and sales of agriculture products and the remaining SMEs are engaged in the wholesale, retail and repair businesses. These SMEs employ 1.5 million people directly and indirectly supports the employment of about 15 million people.

BBN/SSR/AD-19Mar13-11:20 am (BST)