Authors : Mohammed Asraf Uddin , Shahadat Hossain and Shaheen Ahamed
Abstract: Bangladesh is a densely populated least developed country in South Asia with 80 percent of the people living in rural areas. The country�s economy is mainly agriculture oriented with a prematured industrial sector and majority of the people lives below poverty level. To develop the rural masses and to create the opportunity to employment and self-employment, mainstreaming of rural people into the process of development through entrepreneurial activity is crucial to enhance the indigenous economic base and for the economic development of the country. The entrepreneurship activity in rural areas is mainly in small and medium scale enterprises and cottage industries. The study is about entrepreneurship development in rural areas of Bangladesh. Here, the feasibility of entrepreneurship from the viewpoint of Islam is also studied. For understanding the socio-economic status of rural entrepreneurship, their age, educational level, family size and parental occupation were identified and it is found that majority of them are middle age, completed minimum level of education and their business are sole tradership and family business and financed by family, friends, relatives and from own source. In studying the potentials of their business, it is found that cheap human resources, availability of raw materials, intention to change their economic status and income level are main influential factor. Excessive loan processing system, absence of PLS based financial facilities, high interest rate and loan processing cost, unfavourable repayment policy and absence of financial institutions in rural areas are main problems in financing. The operating problems are inadequate infrastructure, inefficient marketing and information, lack of proper knowledge, training and skilled workers, lack of proper R&D facilities, outdated technology and technical know-how etc. These problems are important to solve for proper entrepreneurship development through the intervention of state, social and political institutions that will enhance future growth and development of the economy of the country.
Mohammed Asraf Uddin , Shahadat Hossain and Shaheen Ahamed , 2006. Entrepreneurship Development in Small-Scale Enterprises of the Rural Areas in Bangladesh: A Case Study on Some Areas of Chittagong and Rajshahi. The Social Sciences, 1: 51-59.