SMEDA LEFT WITHOUT BOARD & CEO FOR MONTHS

The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) has invited the attention of the prime minister (PM) Mian Nawaz Sharif that the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) is without a board of directors (BOD) since January 2014 and also without chief executive officer (CEO) and urged the PM to appoint BOD as per the SMEDA Ordinance and an efficient CEO to run the affairs of SMEDA.

President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said SMEDA was conceived by the PM and the PML-N government being an SME friendly government envisaged bright prospects for the sector and also included SME plans in Vision 2025. The SME sector expects the best attention of the PML-N government and has expressed regret that SMEDA stands neglected and is left without governance.

He now invited the attention of the PM secretariat to the SMEDA ordinance which makes it obligatory to appoint one member from each province.
The PM secretariat had overlooked this requirement and had omitted the appointment of the Sindh representative and instead had appointed two from Lahore. However the establishment division on the basis of the spirit and virtue of the ordinance has included the name of the representative of Sindh this time and resent the matter to the PM secretariat.

It is believed that Thaver who served on the BOD from January 2011 to January 2014 as representative of Sindh province and also as representative of UNISAME has been again recommended by SMEDA and now the matter is in the prime minister’s secretariat for the consideration of the PM and it is expected that the BOD will be constituted promptly as it is not proper to leave SMEDA without a BOD for such a long time.

It is pertinent to point out that SMEDA is also without a CEO and is being managed by an acting CEO. SMEDA needs CEO and a BOD without loss of time and UNISAME has also urged the PM to place SMEDA directly under the cabinet division for efficient functioning and fast track activities for promotion and development of the majority sector.

Posted in: Press Releases