Pakistan

UNISAME urges MoF to save SMEs from stagnation

ISLAMABAD : The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) has urged the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to give top prio
Published July 7, 2011

Power_loomsISLAMABAD: The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) has urged the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to give top priority to the SME sector to save it from stagnation.

President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver in a message to Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh federal finance minister has urged him to facilitate, support, encourage and motivate the sector by giving special initiatives in banking, insurance, leasing, alternate energy and logistics to the SME units desirous of going up to the next level for modernization, balancing and replacement.

He said many SME units are far behind and there is a technological gap which needs to be filled with the help and support of the government.

Complimenting the institutions for their dedicated work namely the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), the Engineering Development Board (EDB), the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) he said they need to be further strengthened without loss of time to overcome the challenges the sector is facing due to the global technological advancement.

He said to modernize their units the SMEs need finance at affordable mark up, leasing facilities for repayment under pay as you earn scheme and insurance indemnity to be provided by the state to the commercial banks to make them comfortable in financing the SMEs.

Stressing the need for effective logistics for improving the supply chain for both raw material and marketing of finished goods to domestic and international markets he called for competitive freight rates and elimination of hidden charges.

Removing the misconceptions about high cost of alternate energy he underlined facts about installing small to medium sized power generation system with wind and motivated the SMEs to install units with the help of SMEDA and EDB and urged the government to make its imports duty free.

The sector definitely needs a strong support from the stakeholders namely the government, commercial banks and the trade leaders in the various associations who need to understand the requirements of the sector in terms of environment, resources, facilities and education about the advancement taking place in the progressive countries.

The union looks upon the government to take measures without loss of time as the sector needs the support to face the challenges to remain competitive.

Copyright PPI (Pakistan Press International), 2011

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