Staff Correspondent

People are often subjected to harassment on the pretext of various regulations when they go to seek regulatory services although many of the rules and regulations in Bangladesh are ineffective, a seminar was told on Wednesday.

Small entrepreneurs called upon the government to simplify the regulations to help small and medium enterprises grow in a healthy environment.

Lengthy and time-consuming licensing process was said to be the biggest impediment to setting up a small or medium enterprise. The chairman of the Regulatory Reforms Commission, Akbar Ali Khan, identified three major areas — environment, tax and labour standard — where conflicts over application of rules and regulations were common between parties concerned.

'These are complex issues and I do not know where they will go. We have good rules in Bangladesh but without much application,' he observed at the policy workshop on Regulatory Reform Needs of the SME (small and medium enterprises) Sector organised by the Power and Participation Research Centre at the LGED auditorium in the city.

He cited an example of an obsolete rule which made it illegal for all except the Postal Department to deliver letters and in case of non-compliance, one was supposed to be fined Tk 500.

Courier services deliver letters these days although the said rule remains, he added. He said that it requires 15-16 steps to get regulatory approval for a venture adding that at least three or four of such barriers could be done away with immediately.

At the seminar attended by entrepreneurs and representatives of regulatory bodies and financial institutions, Akbar urged all to submit recommendations for reforms in regulatory affairs related to small and medium enterprises.

Hossain Zillur Rahman, adviser for education and commerce ministries, acknowledged the need for stopping harassment of entrepreneurs, recognising their importance and contribution to the national economy and giving them specific supports to help the sector flourish.

'The SME sector is important for a vibrant economy. We have to pay due attention to the sector for both domestic market and export earnings,' he told the seminar moderated by Sajjad Zahir, director of Economic Research Group. Monwara Hakim, an entrepreneur from Chittagong, complained that it had taken her five years to get a licence.

She recommended removal of such barriers, publicity for creating awareness, marketing and access to finance. Abul Kalam Azad, an entrepreneur who owns an organic fertiliser plant, said apart from time factor, the regulators used to ask the small and medium entrepreneurs to submit a lot of supporting documents as they did in cases of big industries.

'It is impossible for us to do so,' he said. Mokhlesur Rahman, an official of a private bank responsible for SME banking, proposed formation of a taskforce to support entrepreneurs through the SME Foundation for accomplishing various regulatory tasks.