SHAHZADA AHSAN URGED TO FACILITATE SMEs IN INDUSTRIAL POLICY

The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) welcomed Shahzada Ahsan Ashruf Shaikh as the caretaker federal minister industries and production and appreciated his plan to clear the back log to finalize the industrial policy and urged him to ensure the inclusion of the SME sector in the industrial policy.

President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said that the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) comes directly under the ministry of industries and it is expected of the ministry to give the SME sector the attention it deserves by virtue of being the majority sector and backbone of the economy.

He hoped that Shahzada Ahsan with his expertise would in his short span as caretaker look into the impediments and take measures to give due consideration to the sector in the industrial policy.

He said it is very necessary for UNISAME to apprise the minister about the basic requirements of the sector to enable him to fine tune the industrial policy for the benefit of the SME sector which comprises 96% of the entities.

Thaver said the SMEs need land at concession in industrial estates and economic zones with easy installment facilities, finance at affordable mark up, uninterrupted supply of raw materials with bonded warehousing and collateral management facilities, duty free import of machinery, plant and equipment with equal facilities for balancing, modernization and replacement (BMR). He requested Shahzada Ahsan to widen the scope of the policy to co-ordinate with the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), Pakistan Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (PCSIR) and Engineering Development Board (EDB) to make the policy more meaningful for the sector.

He urged the minister to ensure inclusion of these facilities in the industrial policy with special incentives for innovative and import substitution industries.

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