Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) plays a pivotal role in the economic growth and development of Bangladesh. Actually, SME works as the platform for job creation, income
generation, and development of forward and backward industrial linkages and
fulfillment of local social needs. SMEs occupy a unique position in the economy
of Bangladesh. Mainly private sector development depends on them.
In view of present economic development effort in Bangladesh the SME sector plays an important role. These are reflected in the
following performance /activities of this sector:
·
SME contributions to value addition in manufacturing is in the range
of 20 to 25 percent of GDP
·
There are approximately six million SMEs, which include enterprises
with up to 100 workers employing a total of 31 million people – equivalent to
40 per cent of the population of our country aged 15 years and above. Some
private survey also found that the industrial structure of SMEs consisted of
primarily wholesale, retail trade and repairs (40 per cent), agricultural goods
(22 per cent), services (15 per cent) and manufacturing (14 per cent).
·
During the Fourth Five year
plan, a total of 0.35 million jobs were created against the target of 0.4
million.
·
SME sector help alleviate
poverty, increase income level of rural people and promote agro-industrial
linkage in Bangladesh.
·
SME sector requires lower
energy supply, lower infrastructure facilities and this sector imposes less
environmental risk.
·
They contribute towards
better utilization of local resources and skills that might otherwise remain
unutilized.
·
Small industries being labor
oriented are capable of generating more employment.
·
They are necessary to
maintain and retain traditional skills and handicrafts.
·
They are the only medium for
diversification of rural economy and for peaceful and concurrent socio-economic
development of all classes of people
To put it simply, SMEs are the heart of the industrial sector of the
country, employs the bulk of the working population and are owned by
Bangladeshi entrepreneurs. They provide a huge range of goods and services to
the Bangladeshi population, especially in the rural areas, alongside providing
vital support in the production chain to large industries. From the above discussion, we can say that SMEs are playing an
important role in our economy in various ways.