Minister vows to help develop SME sector

Says country needs equitable cross-sector development of SMEs in all provinces

LAHORE:

Federal Minister for Industries and Production Makhdoom Syed Murtaza Mahmood has announced that his ministry will play a proactive role in strengthening inter-ministerial coordination for swift development of the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector.

Addressing his first meeting with senior officials at the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (Smeda) head office on Saturday, he highlighted that Smeda’s facilitation activities and initiatives should help boost small industries to the level of medium enterprises in due course of time.

“Country needs to have equitable cross-sector development of SMEs in all provinces,” he said. Mahmood told Smeda to formulate a special SME development package for the province of Balochistan and promised a visit to Balochistan soon. He expressed confidence that Balochistan could play a significant role in enhancing exports of the country as it had a joint border with Iran coupled with a long coastal line.

The federal minister also said that the country being an agricultural economy had great potential for promoting SME-level agri-businesses. Moreover, Mahmood tasked Smeda to plan initiatives for enhancing direct market access for farmers by reducing the role of middleman in the agricultural produce.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 1^st, 2022.

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