‘Medium industry entrepreneurs facing loss due to corruption’

Aminul Islam, Khulna Bureau

“Corruption in Bangladesh has turned into a national disease that is not easy to get rid of. The elite class of society, wealthy businessmen, brokers and middlemen have benefited due to corruption, but the entrepreneurs of small and medium industries are currently severely affected. Entrepreneurs are exposed to corruption at every step of starting a new business and managing it,” said entrepreneurs of small and medium enterprises at a regional discussion meeting organized by the Center for Governance Studies (CGS) on Wednesday.

The discussion meeting was held at Hotel City Inn Khulna with the support of US-based organization Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) on the experience of corruption faced by entrepreneurs in the field of business and the need to create an integrated platform to prevent this corruption. Representatives of small and medium industries at various levels of Khulna Division participated in it.

CGS Executive Director Zillur Rahman was the chief guest at the meeting. Among others, CGS Programme Assistant Subir Das and Research Assistant Abdullah Al Jafri were also present.

The entrepreneurs who participated in the discussion shared their personal experiences of corruption in running their businesses. Entrepreneurs said that they face corruption and harassment in every aspect of making trade licenses, renewing licenses every year, registration process and paying taxes. In many cases, entrepreneurs of small and medium industries are victims of political pressure, extortion and nepotism. In addition, they expressed their displeasure that they were often forced to pay bribes and extra money and were harassed by the banks in providing loans and other facilities to the entrepreneurs of small and medium industries.

They also mentioned the corruption and mismanagement in the distribution process of the stimulus package given by the government to solve the crisis due to corona pandemic. In many cases they are asked to pay bribes to get incentives.

They also said that government institutions and government policies are largely responsible for corruption in small and medium industries. Officials in government offices play a silent role rather than an active role in this regard.

A participating entrepreneur said that although the bill payment process has been brought under the digital system, its actual implementation is still not possible, which creates opportunities for corruption in various ways. They also mentioned that no help is available from the concerned business organizations to prevent corruption.

The discussion meeting revealed the need for a strong platform to take a stand against corruption and the willingness of entrepreneurs to participate in it spontaneously and collectively. To prevent corruption, business organizations and government institutions involved in small and medium industries should be freed from political influence and people should come forward unitedly against all forms of extortion.

Entrepreneurs emphasized on enhancing family education and values against corruption as well as improving the institutional education system and the use of technology in government offices. Apart from this, civil society organizations and related business organizations should also be more proactive in preventing corruption.

CGS is a Bangladesh-based thinktank that conducts research and media studies on governance, corruption, human rights, democracy and development. It was established to meet the challenges of Bangladesh in dealing with the rapidly changing national and global situation. The mission of the organization is to improve the quality of governance among the academic community, government, private sector, civil society and development partners, meet the security needs of Bangladesh, create conditions for efficient and prudent use of available resources for poverty alleviation, human resource development, and enhanced democratization. Stability of political and social order through participation and sustainable economic development.