UNISAME felicitates PM urges priority for sector

The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) felicitated Shehbaz Sharif on his election as the prime minister (PM) of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and assured him of full support and co-operation in reviving the economy of Pakistan.
President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said the SME sector is the majority sector and deserves priority and reminded the PM that it is the engine of growth and the backbone of the economy. The SME sector can stimulate the economy provided it is supported, encouraged, helped and facilitated.
The SME sector needs finance at affordable mark up. Energy at affordable rates. Raw material at lower or minimum import duties.
Tax holidays and exemptions for import substitution industries.
He pointed out that Technology, Banking, Insurance and Logistics are the pillars of the economy.
The technological gap needs to be filled with transfer of technology, banking needs to be modernised with risk management skills. Insurance namely credit guarantee insurance needs to be provided.
Logistics demands collateral management facilities alongside banking support for fast track export promotion.
Thaver added that import and exports are like warp and weft of the economic fabric and without imports of raw materials, parts of machinery for balancing, modernisation and replacement industrial stability and growth will be affected.
The UNISAME Council members have urged the PM to give his best attention to the sector which it rightly deserves and to strengthen the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) to enable it to outreach the SMEs in every district and cater to the requirements of all segments including the SME farmers.
They reminded the PM that SMEDA was established by the then PM Mian Nawaz Sharif and further strengthened by Late Pervaiz Musharaff but after that it was not provided the attention it deserved. They urged the PM to strengthen SMEDA on priority basis and increase its scope and size to cover all the provinces.

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