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Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 18, 2007
—IFC Advisory Services for South Asia—the SouthAsia Enterprise Development Facility—and the Bangladesh Engineering Industry Owners’ Association launched
News and Views
, the association’s official newsletter. The objective of the newsletter is to promote collaboration among light engineering players in Bangladesh, helping maximize the sector’s potential.
Light engineering is a growing sector that employs about 800,000 people in Bangladesh and generates an annual revenue of taka 9,500 crores ($ 1.6 billion), according to a sector survey conducted by the IFC in 2003. The sector plays a vital role in the country’s industrial and infrastructural growth. However, it is largely comprised of informal, disaggregated small and medium enterprises that need an integrated strategy to achieve the sector’s full growth potential.
The lack of access to finance is a key challenge being faced by the sector. “Financial institutions are reluctant to lend to light engineering firms because they are unfamiliar with the business and unable to assess their risks or profit potential,” explained Roger Handberg, Program Manager Access to Finance, IFC-SEDF Bangladesh, at the launch. The newsletter will be part of an awareness building drive among the business-to-business community of consumers, service providers, financial institutions and the government.
Abdur Razzaque, President of the Bangladesh Engineering Industry Owners’ Association said, “Our mission is to promote sustainable development of the light engineering sector. Through this newsletter we hope to share knowledge about the issues affecting the sector in Bangladesh, identify ways to address these issues, and bring our members closer together.”
“In order for the light engineering sector to increase its competitiveness and productivity, greater cooperation, knowledge sharing, and planning among stakeholders are critical,” said Deepak Adhikary, Deputy General Manager and Head of IFC-SEDF Bangladesh. “This project is the first of its kind in the sector. We hope it will encourage enterprises to upgrade their technologies and collaborate to meet the growing local demand,” he added.
The IFC team worked closely with the association members and other stakeholders to develop a strategy in response to the challenges faced by the sector. The newsletter is part of this larger plan. The content of the newsletter will focus on initiatives that contribute to the sector’s development, success stories from members of the association, news related to the sector, upcoming events, interviews of key market players and experts, challenges to be overcome and developments in technology. Future issues will also include a section to promote dialogue and information sharing, a space for members and stakeholders to voice their concerns (for the government and sector service providers) and to highlight the sector’s strengths and opportunities.
About IFC
IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, promotes open and competitive markets in developing countries. IFC supports sustainable private sector companies and other partners in generating productive jobs and delivering basic services, so that people have opportunities to escape poverty and improve their lives. Through FY06, IFC Financial Products have committed more than $56 billion in funding for private sector investments and mobilized an additional $25 billion in syndications for 3,531 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC Advisory Services and donor partners have provided more than $1 billion in program support to build small enterprises, to accelerate private participation in infrastructure, to improve the business enabling environment, to increase access to finance, and to strengthen environmental and social sustainability. For more information, please visit
www.ifc.org
.
About the IFC SouthAsia Enterprise Development Facility
IFC-SEDF is a multi-donor funded facility managed and operated by IFC. One of 11 such programs managed by IFC worldwide, the facility is set up to promote the growth of SMEs in the region. IFC-SEDF is jointly funded by IFC, the governments of the Netherlands and Norway, the European Commission, DFID (UK), CIDA (Canada), and the Asian Development Bank. It provides increased access to finance and quality business development services to projects in Bangladesh, Bhutan, northeast India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. IFC-SEDF also works to create a business-enabling environment and supports value addition to firms through sector development, advisory services, capacity-building programs, training, and research.
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