The government has significantly expanded financial support for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) while launching targeted interventions to revitalize inactive tanneries in the Savar Tannery Industrial Estate. Speaking as the chief guest at the Bangladesh-Netherlands Sustainable Trade Forum 2026 held at Hotel Sheraton in Dhaka on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Textiles & Jute Khondokar Abdul Muktadir announced that the SME refinancing allocation has been scaled up from Tk 300 crore to Tk 2,000 crore.
The event, jointly organized by the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI) of the Netherlands and LightCastle Partners, also marked the official launch of the CBI Home Textile and Leather Program.
Read next4 More Deaths and 1,900 New Hospitalizations Reported From Dengue in 24 HoursAddressing environmental compliance, the Minister declared that tanneries failing environmental standards will not be allowed to operate. Moving forward, individual Liquid Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP) will be mandatory for factories spanning 50,000 square feet or more, alongside compulsory Leather Working Group (LWG) certification. To enhance competitiveness after generating $1.78 billion in leather and non-leather exports last year, the government is also upgrading Savar's Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) and installing advanced chromium recovery units. Additionally, the government is restructuring the SME Foundation to simplify institutional loan access, aiming to boost the Cottage, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (CMSME) contribution to GDP from under 25% to 60%.
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Reported by Staff Reporter • Edited by the Daily Best News desk. Send corrections to [email protected].
