A webinar on "Banking Support and Global Connections for SMEs" was held on Sunday, says a press release.
In the conference, chief guest MA Mannan, MP, minister of planning said, "SMEs are the heart of economies anywhere in the world, it can be a low income country like ours, it can be a very high income country like Canada, so SMEs are reigning in the industrial and semi industrial sectors all over the globe, they are the driving force in the economies globally."
The minister added, "Things are changing, the earlier concepts of very large factories with thousands of people working and changing hands from this to that, that sort of pattern shift is going to happen in the world, Covid or no-Covid, with the rise of digital economies, rise of electronics, the rise of robotics and so many things."
Mr Mannan commented, "We need to co-operate across the globe wherever we are, SMEs or large sectors or even miniscule sectors, humanity as a whole is facing a common situation in this moment and we must put our heads together and work together."
The conference was also attended by Aminath Mohamed Saleem, deputy minister of higher education of Maldives; Benjir Ahmed, MP, president of BAIRA; Vincent de Paul EMAH ETOUMDI, parliament member of Cameroon; Md Shafiqul Islam, managing director of SME Foundation; Dmitry Veselov, co-chairman and VP of All-Russian Public Organisation, Russia; Ali Reza Iftekhar, chairman of Association of Bankers, Bangladesh Limited (ABB); Eric Meijer, director of Mind Master Mundo, Netherlands; Tandin Wangchuk, vice president of Bhutan Chamber of Commerce; Ismail Dacic, CEO and founder of EID, Montenegro; Pedro Bandeira, president of FNABA - Portuguese Business Angels Federation; Shahnewaz Ayesha Akhtar Jahan, founder and president of PRF; Alaa Sabhan, chairman of CC & GM LLC, UAE; Mohammad Hadi Al Hammam, Al Sharqia Chamber, KSA; Md Rafiqul Islam, DMD of Agrani Bank; Sâadia Lakehal, president founder of Global Women in Manufacturing, Canada; Wan Fara Ayu Binti W Ahmad, co-founder of KVM Malaysia; Sanjiv Layek, executive secretary from WASME head office, India and other dignitary guests and participants from across the world.
The webinar was organised by SM Zillur Rahman, VP and head of World Association for SMEs, Bangladesh and keynote was presented by Abdus Sobhan.