ICCI for finalizing SME Policy 2019

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and  Industry on Wednesday urged the government for taking measures to early finalization of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME)  Policy 2019 to create conducive environment for better growth of the sector.

President ICCI Ahmed Hassan Moughal said that SMEs were the backbone of  national economy as they constituted over 90 percent of all enterprises, contributed 40 percent to GDP growth, employed 80 percent of non-agricultural labor force and were a major source of exports.

SMEs played key role in the economic development of any country, but these businesses in Pakistan were facing multiple problems due to lack of supportive policies, he added.

He said that SMEDA has been working for the last many months on SME Policy 2019, but still the policy could not be finalized and urged that government to finalize the policy in consultation with all stakeholders to announce new SME policy.

He said that the last SME policy was developed in 2007 could not contribute effectively in promoting SMEs in the country, adding that lack of easy access to finance was the major hurdle for SMEs due to which share of SMEs in total private sector credit was just around 6-8 percent.

He emphasized that new SME policy should ensure easy access to credit for SMEs so that these businesses could grow up to their real potential and play effective role in the economic development of the country.

Raffat Farid Senior Vice President and Iftikhar Anwar Sethi Vice President ICCI said that the economy of Pakistan was passing through a critical phase as the exports were not growing up to potential and trade deficit was rising.

They said that if provided with an enabling environment, SMEs could drive Pakistan out of current economic challenges and put it on the path of sustainable growth.

They said that SMEs led growth would bring multiple benefits to the economy as it would attract new investment, create more jobs, reduce poverty, improve tax revenue, promote exports and enhance forex reserves of the country.

Therefore, they urged the  government for announcing a new SME Policy on priority basis to pave way for better growth of this important sector.