President of the Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) Anwar-ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez has said the chamber puts special emphasis on creating new entrepreneurs especially in small and micro industries alongside taking initiatives to remove hurdles faced by the local industries.
Presiding over a roundtable on problems of local manufacturing sector at its office on Saturday, he highlighted BCI’s focus on promoting sectors like light engineering, agro-based industries, halal products, blue economy ventures, and leather goods, according to a release.
“Based on the insights gathered from such sector-specific meetings, BCI will prepare a comprehensive report to submit to relevant government departments,” he said.
“Before holding discussions with the government, we will finalise the sector-specific issues with the involvement of industry leaders and include them in the representative delegation,” he added.
The roundtable focused on challenges faced by the manufacturing sector—particularly micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs.
As part of its ongoing initiative, BCI has been regularly engaging with industry stakeholders to identify key sector-specific issues and formulate solutions. Saturday’s discussions were was specifically focused on the engineering sector. Md Helal Uddin, secretary general of BCI, conducted the session.
The speakers engaged in in-depth discussions on issues such as access to finance, environmental certifications, barriers faced by women entrepreneurs in securing loans, VAT and tax policies, market development, and the implementation of competition laws.
The meeting brought together several key figures, including BCI Senior Vice President Preeti Chakraborty; BCI Directors Shahidul Islam Niru and Jahangir Alam; former BCI President Shahedul Islam (Helal); Obaidur Rahman, President of the Bangladesh Aluminium Manufacturers Association; Ali Zaman, President of the SME Owners Association of Bangladesh; Md. Abdur Razzak, President of BEIOA; Engr. Utpal Kumar Das, President of the Bangladesh Die and Mould Manufacturers Association; and Ismat Jarin Khan, BCI Member.
Other notable participants included Dr. Syed Ihsanul Karim, former