Rakibul hasan forhad:

Corruption has become a norm in the day-to-day conduct of small and medium enterprises in Bangladesh. If anyone dares to speak out against corruption, they would be put at a competitive disadvantage and risk retaliation. SME owners of Mymensingh have to face bitter experiences of corruption, even though they try to fight against it wherever they can and in their own ways. Legal eforms in creating trade license and incentivising SME loans will fix crucial issues in the SME sector. To advocate for forming a united anti-corruption platform, a united voice is required, claim SME owners of Mymensingh.

The SME owners raised these concerns in a regional consultation organized by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) in Mymensingh. The event was organized in collaboration with the Centre for International Private Enterprises (CIPE), a Washington-based organization, in the ASPADA Training Academy on September 4, 2022, to analyze the perception of corruption among the local entrepreneurs and the possibility of initiating a non-political anti-corruption platform.

The Executive Director of CGS, Mr. Zillur Rahman, Program Director Mr. Subir Das, and Research Associate Mr. Abdullah Al Zafori of CGS were also present at the event.

During the consultation, SME entrepreneurs lamented how they have become adjusted to corruption. According to them, corruption has become almost essential for small businesses to survive. Now people are afraid to tell the truth and stop corruption as they fear the consequences. There are too many examples of people being ostracized for speaking out against corruption, according to the participants.

One of the key avenues of corruptions that SMEs face is while acquiring trade licenses and renewing licenses. SMEs have to acquire anywhere from 4 to13 trade licenses in order to operate. They are compelled to pay figures far higher than the official amount in acquire to get these licenses and keep renewing them.
Regional Trade Chamber are not providing sufficient information to SMEs in terms of forming good internal governance in order to get licenses without issue. Similarly, existing private platforms are not sufficient to fix these licensing issues.

The participants stated that new entrepreneurs are more liable to face corruption. Not only are they unaware of proper internal governance, but they also lack personal relationship with banks. As a result, it is very difficult for them to get loans. Often times they have to approach third parties to secure loans, and are charged very high premiums for it. A few participants reounted their personal experience of having to pay 2 lakh taka to get 5 lakh in loans. Many SMEs have also not received the benefits that the government had promised during the height of the covid pandemic.
Other more localized forms of corruption SMEs in Mymenshing face include: paying bribes during customs payment for import and export; paying bribes while filing income tax returns; paying bribes for transporting goods via rail and courier; and varius forms of extortion and racketeering from criminal elements, many of whom have strong political connections.

The participants expressed that a sense of impunity regarding corruption is leading to lax moral standards among the general people. They also stated that systematic political nepotism makes law enforcement biased and weak.

In order to solve these issues the SMEs advocated for a United private sector platform to combat corruption. Personal or singular actions are not sufficient to enact systematic change. Voices need to be raised in unison to form an effective resistance. Some progress is being made due to efforts from the government. New systems of online form-fillup are helping to reduce corruption. Laws need to be reformed and simplified while keeping SMEs in mind. Finally, there is an urgent need to teach proper ethics to people from a very early age in order to solve the lack of morality in society. Just speaking about problems is not enough. Words need to lead to action.

About Centre for Governance Studies-
CGS is a think tank based in Bangladesh conducting research and media studies on issues of Good Governance, Corruption, Human Rights, Democracy, and Development. The Centre was established to address the challenges for Bangladesh in coping with the rapidly changing national and global scenarios. The Centre aims at facilitating collaborative efforts among the academic community, government, private sector, civil society and development partners to improve the quality of governance, address the security needs of Bangladesh, foster the conditions for efficient and prudent utilization of available resources towards poverty reduction, human resource development, and stabilization of political and social order through increased democratization, participation and sustainable economic development.