About Us

MSME

Development through

Market Linkage & Readiness

Service for Access to Finance

MSMEBD

Digital Marketplace

An Initiative of

SASBA (PVT.) LTD.

South Asian Small Business Agency

Introduction

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the foundations of economic development, employment creation and for innovation. In the Asia and the Pacific region, MSMEs account for more than 90 per cent of all enterprises and almost the major source of employment and incomes. In Bangladesh, SMEs contribute around 25 per cent to the GDP, account for 70 to 80 per cent of the  non-agricultural sector employment and 40 per cent of the manufacturing output. Realizing the significance more on this sector. However, this sector faces various difficulties in setting up of the business, facilitating investment, supporting business operations, accounting record and ensuring growth potential. During the Covid-19 pandemic, most businesses experienced a decline in sales, supply chain disruptions and marketing problems, which ultimately resulted in many businesses shutting down and triggering unemployment. Therefore, to support the resurgence of the sector further as part of the post-pandemic economic recovery process, it is necessary to ensure greater MSME access to finance right now.

Most of the micro and small businesses are family-based and lack appropriate financing for their start-up and operations. This financing problem hinders normal business operations and future growth. Empirically, it has been tested and found that lack of access to external finance is a key obstacle to firm growth, especially for MSMEs.

As such businesses are highly scattered throughout the country, in many cases, they cannot sale their products due to the lack of massive advertising. On the other hand, perceived high risk, high administrative and monitoring costs as well as the lack of banking network and appropriate model are among the most significant problems which restrict banks to enter into the MSME segment. Hence, the excessive reliance on the informal sector increases the cost of financing and, in some cases, it is higher than their rate of return. Financial institutions also encounter several problems while financing small enterprises. Among them, unstructured balance sheets, lack of quality information, sufficient guarantees, their family-owned nature and creditworthiness are some of the issuer banks face when assessing the borrower’s credit need. There are also some non-financial problems, like managerial capacity, willingness to pay, lack of motivation to grow, and lack of using money efficiently that are associated with MSMEs.

In most of the cases, MSMEs claim that they do not get access to the formal financial sector due the high requirements of banks’ lending. One the other hand, commercial banks opined that they do not get appropriate borrower who are ready to avail bank finance complying banking requirements.

Therefore, it creates a dilemma when on party considers that the problems lies with other party. As a result, gap exists between the MSMEs preparedness and banks’ lending requirements. A recent study of Medan reported that the estimated demand for MSME finance in Bangladesh is US$ 57 billion. But unfortunately, only 33 per cent (US$ 19 billion) of this demand is currently met, resulting in a 67 per cent finance gap in the sector. Another study

revealed an unmet financing demand for 60 per cent of women-owned SMEs. Hence, the large financing gap and the credit constraints may jeopardize the potential growth of MSMEs in Bangladesh.

Considering the mentioned backdrop, to strengthen the hands of the MSMEs, a private initiative has been undertaken with the name of SMSBA (Pvt.) Limited to MSMEs’ to ensure their readiness, access to finance, products marketing and future growth.

Vision Statement:

To Become the premier and focal agency for promotion, development and facilitation of MSME by creating a more vibrant and conducive ecosystem of them to grow and sustain.

Mission Statement:

Responsive, sustainable and effective support aimed at development and facilitation of MSME by creating a more vibrant and conducive ecosystem for them to grow and sustain.

Objectives:

1)      Provide advisory services to MSMEs for enhancing their business performance.

2)      Facilitate the development and growth of MSMEs to creation through public and private sector procurement.

3)      Assist in creating marketing linkages of MSMEs in Bangladesh to enable their access to newer markets – domestic & international and enhance their visibility.

4)      Facilitate integration of MSMEs in Bangladesh into the global gvalue chain by enhancing their export potential.

5)      Developing Human Resources though training and skill up gradation.

6)      Advocate for a conducive regulatory environment for MSMEs to enable access to finance, investment, trade equitable and market access in an and sustainable manner.

7)      Promote a culture of entrepreneurship in Bangladesh.

8)      Promote innovation and technological capacity of MSMEs for competitiveness.

9)      Facilitate access to credit for MSMEs in Bangladesh to meet their varied financial requirements across the business life cycle.