Three-year public-private partnership channels affordable surplus materials, hands-on training, and circular economy principles into a more resilient, inclusive supply chain for the country’s smallest enterprises
Urmi Group, a leading Bangladeshi industrial conglomerate spanning ready-made garments (RMG), textiles, retail, navigation, and agriculture, and SME Foundation (SMEF), the apex government institution for SME development under Bangladesh’s Ministry of Industries, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen the country’s cottage, micro, small, and medium enterprises (CMSMEs) in the textile and garment sector.
The agreement, formally signed on August 13, 2026, in Dhaka, establishes one of the first structured public-private partnerships of its kind in Bangladesh’s industrial landscape — pairing a private-sector manufacturing leader with the nation’s principal SME development authority to address a long-standing constraint on grassroots enterprise: limited access to affordable raw materials, technical skills, and market linkages.
Under the partnership, Urmi Group will supply quality surplus textile materials to CMSME clusters identified by SME Foundation at affordable, transparent prices, while the two organizations jointly design and deliver training in entrepreneurship, garment stitching, and machine operation and maintenance. Particular emphasis will be placed on rural and urban women entrepreneurs, in line with SME Foundation’s national mandate to integrate women-led enterprises into the mainstream economy.
The collaboration is anchored in circularity. It extends a commitment already embedded across Urmi Group’s operations — where fabric and garment waste is systematically repurposed into sustainable materials under a closed-loop production model — into a new tier of Bangladesh’s industrial ecosystem. Surplus that would otherwise go unused becomes affordable input for entrepreneurs; that input, in turn, becomes income, employment, and enterprise growth at the grassroots level.
“This partnership shows what public and private sectors can achieve together. By putting our surplus materials to work for small and women-led enterprises, we are turning waste into opportunity and building a more circular, inclusive industry,” said Shamarukh Fakhruddin, Director, Urmi Group.
“This initiative would strengthen the skills and business management capacity of small and micro entrepreneurs while helping them become more closely integrated into the textile and garment supply chain,” said Anwar Hossain Chowdhury, Managing Director, SME Foundation.
The two organizations will implement the partnership through a jointly developed Standard Operating Procedure, a shared Monitoring Team tracking indicators such as entrepreneur income, employment generation, and machinery utilization, and a Quarterly Report Review Meeting to assess progress. Urmi Group and SME Foundation will also jointly facilitate CMSME participation in National SME Product Fairs and other platforms to expand market visibility for emerging enterprises.
The MoU is effective for an initial three-year term from the date of signing and reflects both organizations’ shared commitment to sustainability, inclusivity, circularity, and women’s empowerment as guiding principles of the collaboration.
About Urmi Group
Urmi Group is a leading Bangladeshi Group of Companies with operations spanning ready-made garments, textiles, retail, navigation, and agro. Its concerns include Fakhruddin Textile Mills Ltd (FTML), the Group’s largest textile and RMG production unit, Urmi Garments Ltd (UGL), and UHM Ltd, which together supply premium apparel to global brands while advancing sustainability, inclusivity, and ethical manufacturing practices. Urmi Group is committed to minimizing waste and maximizing resource efficiency across its operations, repurposing fabric and garment waste into sustainable materials and innovative solutions to pursue a closed-loop, circular production model.
About SME Foundation
SME Foundation (SMEF) is the apex national institution for promoting and developing small and medium enterprises in Bangladesh. Established in 2006 under the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, SMEF serves as the principal implementing authority for the National SME Policy. Its mandate includes policy advocacy, facilitating access to finance, skill development and capacity building, technology adoption, and cluster-based enterprise development nationwide, with particular emphasis on empowering women entrepreneurs and integrating them into the mainstream business landscape.
