IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and Bangladesh Bank yesterday launched the country's first ever database on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to help both lenders and borrowers take financing decisions efficiently.

The database will provide quarterly reports with up to date information on SMEs lending activities, including information on region, sector, loan type, ownership format and locations of the enterprises. Banks will have the access to the report through Bangladesh Bank.

"The SME database is a great effort. It'll help bridge the gap between small enterprises and the banking sector," Atiur Rahman, central bank governor, told at the launching progra-mme at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in the capital.

"By providing accurate and current information, sectoral and geographical knowledge limitations will no longer hamper access to finance and the growth of SMEs in Bangladesh," Rahman said.

This is an initiative by the South Asia Enterprise Development Facility, managed by IFC in partnership with the UK Department for International Development and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.
According to the IFC, the database will help financial institutions to streamline appraisal and prioritisation of SMEs and more efficiently identify lending potential by region.

It would also help mapping and design of lending products based on sector requirements.

Lenders can also determine financial viability of SMEs through benchmarking against the sector and develop market strategies and underline funding requirements for each market segment.

"The ability of financial institutions to conduct transactions is highly dependent on information and data they can access about the businesses they deal with," said Tarek Kamal, programme manager for IFC's Access to Finance unit.

"With the help of this database we expect to see increased access to finance in remote areas as well," said Kamal.

The database will include and supply information from 64 districts and collect information on cottage, micro-, small- and medium-scale enterprises as defined by the Bangladesh Bank.

Source: The Daily Star/ Bangladesh/ 24th Nov 2011