The SME Foundation has proposed unified 10 per cent VAT for SME sector industries and 1.0 per cent surcharge on profit gain in the upcoming national budget of FY26.
This came in a views exchange meeting on 鈥楽ME Friendly Budget Proposal 2025-26鈥� with the Economic Reporters鈥� Forum held at ERF auditorium at Paltan on Tuesday.
鈥楾he budget for the next financial year requires policy support for the development of the country鈥檚 SME sector. For this, 140 proposals have already been submitted to the National Board of Revenue,鈥� said SME Foundation chairperson Md Musfiqur Rahman while speaking as chief guest at the event.
He also said that, since its establishment in 2007, the SME Foundation had been implementing various activities, including implementation of Industrial Policies 2016 and 2022, SME Policy 2019, SDG 2030 and other policies of government, strategy papers and instructions.
In addition, the Foundation is undertaking initiatives, including creating an SME-friendly business environment and entrepreneurship development, research and policy advocacy, cluster development, technology transfer, ICT support, skill development, women-entrepreneur development and financing on easy terms, said Musfiqur.
The chairman stated that direct beneficiaries of these activities were about 2 lakh and indirect beneficiaries were about 20 lakh entrepreneurs.
However, according to the 2024 Economic Survey, this rate is very low compared to the 11.8 million entrepreneurs in the country.
SME Foundation managing director Anwar Hossain Chowdhury said that about 70 per cent of SME entrepreneurs were outside Dhaka, but the SME Foundation did not have any office outside Dhaka.
He said that, in such a situation, regular allocation of funds in favour of the SME Foundation was required in the budget of each financial year to bring more entrepreneurs under loan for the development of the SME sector in the country, implement the SME Policy 2025 and implement programmes for the development of the SME sector and entrepreneurs.
Along with this, the SME Foundation has sought an allocation of at least Tk 500 crore in the next budget, he pointed out.
With ERF acting president Ashraful Islam in the chair, SME Foundation director and Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers Entrepreneurs鈥� Association president Samim Ahmed, SME Foundation deputy general manager Muhammad Morshed Alam, among others, spoke at the event.
ERF general secretary Abul Kashem moderated the workshop.
