The government never took up a roadmap for uplifting SMEs sector, proposed by experts. There has only been rhetoric even after passage of five years. Rehmatullah Javed, Chairman SMEs National Committee of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) said this in a statement Wednesday. He said the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) made serious efforts to simplify the access to finance besides creating awareness in this regard.
He said banks are not promoting SBP's financial policies which need regulation. He said SMEs must be promoted through modern banking methods and fast-track E-Commerce. Rehmatullah Javed said that it was suggested to the government to establish a separate SME ministry to take measures for the promotion of SMEs to address new technologies in production, management, marketing, accounting & inventory control, etc.
Javed pointed out that SME sector is dependent on logistics which encompasses transportation, warehousing and management. This also needs to be addressed to cater for SMEs' needs to perform smoothly. He said the sector is also suffering due to energy shortage and underlined the need to subsidize alternative energy means to meet the energy requirement or establish hydel Energy resources by building dams.