PKSF plans increased financing for small entrepreneurs to boost employments

The Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) is planning to increase financing for small entrepreneurs to enhance production capacity, promote intermediate goods production and create new employment opportunities across the country.

Under the new financing strategy, the PKSF plans to provide loans of up to Tk 50 lakh to general small entrepreneurs and up to Tk two crore to entrepreneurs producing intermediate goods in selected business clusters.

PKSF Managing Director Md Fazlul Kader disclosed the plan in a recent interview with Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS).

He said a small enterprise that directly employs one person can create employment opportunities for around four more people through forward and backward linkages with production and marketing systems.

“So, we don’t want to focus only on increasing the number of entrepreneurs. We want to finance the entire production and supply system to increase employments,” he said.

The PKSF managing director said the organisation now focuses on employment generation, as increased production creates jobs among suppliers, distributors and other businesses linked to an enterprise.

He said the new financing strategy also aims to encourage entrepreneurs to add value to raw materials and produce higher-value products.

“Bangladesh should not remain merely a producer of primary products. We have to add as much value as possible to raw materials,” he said.

He cited the examples of processing milk into ghee, labang, cheese and various beverages, and processing mangoes into pulp, vinegar and other products.

Such businesses require higher capital than conventional microcredit, he said, adding that the PKSF therefore plans to raise the financing ceiling.

The PKSF managing director cited the footwear industry in Bhairab as an example of the potential for producing intermediate goods.

He said the area has several thousand footwear factories that require shoe soles. Entrepreneurs can produce soles from footwear waste, but such businesses require relatively higher investment.

“People do not buy soles only for personal use; footwear factories buy them. That is why we call them intermediate goods,” he said.�"BSS