Developmental Role of Chamber of Commerce and Industries in Bangladesh: A Case Study of Sylhet Chamber of Commerce and Industries

Chamber of commerce and industry plays important role for development ofbusiness community and creating vibrant competition. Present paper compareschambers operations in Bangladesh, especially, Sylhet Chamber of Commerce andIndustry(SCCI) by reviewing global models of chambers practices. The study identifiesimportant gaps between international standards and Bangladesh practices. Mostlypracticed chambers model in the world are: Continental Model, Anglo-Saxon Modeland Mixed model or Asian model. Like other Asian countries, chambers in Bangladeshincluding SCCI, have been following Mixed Model. The empirical study found that SCCIis performing different developmental functions like accumulating members, collectingrevenue, fulfilling corporate social responsibility and providing business developmentservices to its members and business community. The notable constraining factors ofSCCI operations are: short term orientation in assembling members, limited functionalactivities, lack of creative endeavors in diversifying services, linkage between SCCIand academic institutions, poor research involvement etc. The necessary suggestionsfor improvement of chambers performance include adoption of creative measures invarious operations, providing training to the members, assisting entrepreneurs inobtaining industrial finance and extending support in the establishment of specializedindustrial zone for attaining long term developmental objectives.