The five-year SME Development Plan developed by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) has been incorporated as part of Pakistan Vision 2025 approved by the government. The plan envisages SME sector’s growth through valuable contribution to the economy in terms of GDP, exports enhancement, number of jobs and new enterprises.
As per SMEDA’s recent report, much of the work was undertaken in the cluster and business facilitation areas. In the previous year, over 7,000 SMEs were provided direct services in addition to channelling private investment of Rs 1.25b through SMEDA efforts across various sectors.
Training programs and capacity building initiatives were attended by over 6,500 participants. Sports Industries Development Center, (SIDC) Sialkot, a modern infrastructure facility commenced its operations to provide services to the sports goods manufacturing sector while also highlighting the need for adoption of new technology in sports goods manufacturing, the report added.
Commenting on SMEDA’s working strategy, General Manager, Business and Sector Development Division Fuad Hashim is reported to have stated that SMEDA is operational on both the demand and supply sides of the SME development equation and it is also concentrating its efforts on developing the capacity of SMEs to benefit from the development support provided by the public sector.
He also revealed that SMEDA is urging the government to undertake development interventions for SME growth, while also appreciating SMEDA’s efforts in facilitating new start-ups and to support growth of existing SMEs through a three-pronged operational strategy that included facilitating creation of a conducive business environment, developing clusters and sectors through value chain analyses and providing business facilitation and support through a comprehensive product and service portfolio despite a low budget and limited pool of human resources.
Dilshadali