LAHORE: Chief Executive Officer of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) Hashim Raza has said that SME Policy has been formed and expected to be launched on November 11 by the Prime Minister Imran Khan.
He was speaking at a meeting at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir, Senior Vice President Mian Rehman Aziz Chan and Vice President also spoke on the occasion.
The CEO SMEDA said that the Policy has been formed with due consultation with the stakeholders. The issues, which will be raised after the implementation of the policy, will be reviewed. He said that a separate section has been introduced in the policy to support the women entrepreneurs.
He said that the regulatory regime is being eased in the policy while SMEs will have to prepare only a few NOCs. Others are being abolished in the upcoming policy. He said that the government departments will be bound to give approvals to the SMEs in thirty days while the different departments including Social Security, Labour, Punjab Food Authority and environment cannot visit to the SMEs for inspection without schedule and prior approval.
He agreed that lack of access to the financing is a biggest challenge for the SMEs. He said that lack of documentation and awareness are the biggest issues of the SME sector. He said that according to a survey of SMEDA, 78 percent SMEs do not avail bank facility because they are undocumented or have no awareness.
Hashim Raza said that the policy makers should realize that the only solution to the economic challenges is to promote and support the SMEs. "We have to increase our production base and labour capacity," he added.
He further stated that SMEDA is ready to collaborate with the LCCI for establishment of incubation centre for young entrepreneurs and new business starters.
LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir said that Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry and SMEDA have always maintained good working relations. Being the premier business support organization of the country, LCCI has always recognized the importance of SMEs as the backbone of our economy since their contribution in the GDP is around 40%. According to estimates, there are well over 5 million SMEs in Pakistan and around 65% of the SMEs are based in Punjab.
The LCCI President said that one persistent issue which is hampering the growth of SMEs is inadequate access to finance. The SMEs only get 6.2% of private sector financing while the number of SME borrowers is just around 172,000. It is a worrying sign that the number of SME borrowers is declining consistently.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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