Staff Correspondent

The SME Foundation has proposed unified 10 percent VAT for SME sector industries and 1.0 percent surcharge on profit gain in the upcoming national budget of FY26.

This came in a views exchange meeting on ‘SME Friendly Budget Proposal 2025-26’ with the Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF), held at ERF Auditorium in Paltan on Tuesday.

“The budget for the next fiscal year requires policy support for the development of the country's SME sector. For this, 140 proposals have already been submitted to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), said SME Foundation Chairperson Md. Musfiqur Rahman, while speaking as the chief guest at the event. 

He also said since its establishment in 2007, the SME Foundation has been implementing various activities including the 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 implementing various activities 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 Rahman. 

The SME Foundation chairman stated that the direct beneficiaries of these activities are about 2 lakh and the indirect beneficiaries are about 2 million entrepreneurs.

However, according to the 2024 Economic Survey, this rate is very low compared to the 11.8 million entrepreneurs in the country.

The SME Foundation Managing Director Anwar Hossain Chowdhury said that around 70 percent of SME entrepreneurs are outside Dhaka. But the SME Foundation does not have any office outside Dhaka.

He said in such a situation, regular allocation of funds in favour of the SME Foundation is required in the budget of each fiscal year to bring more entrepreneurs under loan for the development of the SME sector in the country, implement the SME Policy 2025, and implement programs 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’ 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.