POVERTY ALLEVIATION CAN BEST BE ACHIEVED THRU SMEs :UNISAME TELLS PM

The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) has appreciated the setting up of poverty alleviation desk in office of the prime minister (PM) Imran Khan and also thanked the PM for his concern for the under privileged sector expressed in various forums.UNISAME has urged the PM to also take SME promotion directly under him for fast track promotion as it is a tool for poverty alleviation and it can best be achieved with self employment.

Zulfikar Thaver president UNISAME in a message to PM has stressed the need for stimulation of the sector by prompt remedial measures to save the SMEs who have received a setback due to fast depreciation of the rupee and resultant inflation. The Union has invited the attention of the PM to the requirements of the sector to cope up with the challenging situation and to the immediate steps needed to promote, encourage, facilitate, motivate and upgrade the SME sector.

Thaver said since the SME sector is the majority sector which is vibrant, backbone of the economy, the engine of growth and the vehicle for poverty alleviation and best for creating employment it deserves the best attention of the government.

The SMEs contribute to 30% of the exports and most of them are involved in value addition and they contribute 35% to GDP and offer employment to about 40% of the labour force.The impediments to SME growth are lack of education, finance, proper environment, infrastructure, logistics and load shedding.

UNISAME first demand is a strong Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) capable of out reaching the SMEs. The size and scope of SMEDA needs to be increased and it needs to be sufficiently funded. If SMEDA is strengthened it will be able to carry out program to educate the SMEs on the new technologies in production, management, marketing, accounting & inventory control. It could also encourage the SMEs to modernize and make plans for balancing and replacement of their units and arrange transfer of technology.

The sector needs to be facilitated with modern banking, leasing and,insurance as these are the pillars for growth.Besides the SME sector is dependent on logistics which encompasses transportation, warehousing and collateral management and these are tools for supporting the sector to enter global markets.
Since uninterrupted energy is critical for the SME units, it is advisable to promote alternate renewable energy by subsidized financing.

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