SMEDA BOARD TO REMAIN INCOMPLETE WITHOUT SME REPRESENTATIVE

The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) has invited the attention of Raja Hassan Abbass federal secretary ministry of industries and production (MoI&P) that without inclusion of SME representative the board of directors of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) will remain incomplete and it is very important to take on board an SME representative for feedback on policies and SME issues.

President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said that UNISAME has been affiliated with SMEDA ever since its inception. As UNISAME chief he has been on SME Task Force, National Committee for SMEs, Board of Directors 2011-2014 and been the most active board member during his tenure. The then CEO called upon him to handle important issues with the then finance ministers Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Mr Salim Mandviwalla and he considered it his duty to resolve issues whenever required to do so. The PML-N government and all ministries regard the SME sector as the vibrant sector and have soft corner for the SMEs.

Further being the president of the Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) and Chairman/CEO of Small Medium Industrial Leasing Estates Pvt Ltd (SMILE) he is all the time advocating the cause of the sector. As such due to his close connection with the print and electronic media it is easy for him to educate the sector about SMEDA and its activities and I make it a point to mention about SMEDA always passionately as we have worked hand in gloves since its inception. It is his mission he said to promote the sector.

He said UNISAME representative deserves to be again appointed as member BOD of SMEDA to enable him to pursue the agenda of the union for some unfinished work of SME Policy 2007 which was framed by the stakeholders. SMEDA has recommended his name along with other SME experts. However he elaborated that what feedback and solutions to issues SMEDA could get from UNISAME would be more valuable than from others by virtue of UNISAME being an SME Forum which is working for the cause of the SMEs 24/7.

Secondly it will be very supportive for UNISAME as then it will carry more weight if UNISAME representative is on SMEDA board and likewise the board will not be complete without an SME representative. However it is up to the MoI&P as the union will co-operate and support SMEDA all the time as they have done for the last so many years whether they are represented on the board or not he promised.

Thaver said it is our dream to have an SME Export House, SME Ombudsman, SME Institute, Venture Capital, Credit Guarantee and we are on record for requesting the authority for early implementation. Recently most of our demands were fulfilled in the budget about Warehouse Receipt Financing, Mortgage Financing, Reduction in ERF mark up, Crop Insurance and Loan reimbursement facilities, Exim Bank, LTF, Livestock Insurance Scheme and Export Credit Guarantee Scheme. We are known for our persistence and SMEDA officials will vouch for our endeavours as they are our guide and partners in SME promotion and development.

He stated that we are very grateful to institutions, banks and organization for co-operating with us in the promotion and development of the sector and look forward to working with them in future for rapid growth of the sector along with SMEDA.

Posted in: Press Releases