SME SECTOR REPS TO APPRAISE SMEDA ON SALIENT ISSUES…The Financial Daily 08/02/2021

KARACHI: The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) has convened
a joint meeting with the Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME), the Cereals Association of Pakistan (CAP), the Karachi Wholesale Grocers Association (KWGA) and SME
Farmers Association (SMEFA) on 9th February 2021 to help the SME
sector advocate their cause effectively for long outstanding issues,
says a Press release.
President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said the purpose of the
meeting was to appraise SMEDA about revision of rice standards,
expedite geographical indications (GI) tag for Pakistani items known
for their geographical origin and significance, requirements of SME
farmers, requirements of wholesale grocers, victimization of jaggery
exporters by sugar mafia, need for setting up of bureau for inculcating
better business practices in Pakistan on the pattern of foreign institutions
and finally setting up of SME Liaison committee (SME-LC) on the pattern of CPLC in SMEDA head office and branches.
Mukesh Kumar provincial chief SMEDA will be hosting the meeting on Zoom along with his team of experts. Haji Muzammil Chappal, chairman CAP, Rauf Ebrahim chairman KWGA, Haji Muhammad Saeed chairman SMEFA, Asif Abdul Ghaffar and UNISAME chief will highlight the sector issues.
The SME leaders felt it is high time the rice standards are revised
as the present ones are unreal. The GI tag for our produce items must
be applied for promptly and granted on merit expeditiously, the SME farmers need support price and subsidies, the export of jaggery must be allowed, the wholesalers must be facilitated to do business comfortably, the bureau for better business practices must be set up and also the SME-LC.
The stakeholders feel it is incumbent upon SMEDA to support the sector and advocate their cause and impress upon the government to give priority to the sector and
resolve their issues promptly.
The government needs to help, support, encourage, motivate and above all facilitate the majority sector said the SME leaders.

Posted in: Press Releases