FE Report

From a solar panel assembler to an arsenic-buster, contact lens producer, generator equipment maker, Bangladeshi small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are varied and strong, powering the country's development at a time of global economic downturn.

The picture was evident in the fourth SME fair now going on at the Bangladesh-China Friendship center, where more than 80 micro- entrepreneurs are displaying the country's green shoots of industrialisation.

Like the last three years, the SME entrepreneurs from different parts of the country are participating in the SME fair 2009 with an expectation to tap the markets both at home and abroad besides making people aware of the sector's development.

Product range also varied from power and sun glasses, contact and cornea ulcer lens, automobile filters for world famous brands of Toyota, Corolla, Nissan, CNG and Mehendro vehicles to home products, leather, Ayurvedic food, beauty products and jute rugs.

Abdus Salam, participating in the SME fair for the first time this year, said his entry to SME began in 2003 by producing organic fertiliser. But he gradually expanded his avenues to expand his market for organic fertilisers and products. His product ranges from food and ends to energy efficiency goods including soya milk, soya meat, organic bricks, solar panel and bio fuel.

Under Uttarbanga Fertiliser Ind. Ltd and Northern Agro Products Ltd, Salam is now cropping organic fruits, vegetables and paddy in Panchagarh of North Bengal on more than 300 acres of land. He was also one of the designers to formulate the country's standard of organic products.