KARACHI: The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) demand friendly policies and cooperation from government institutions without compromising on legality, healthy rules and regulations, an official said on Monday.

The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) held a meeting where they discussed the framework and recommended modalities for the Small and Medium Enterprises Liaison Committee (SME-LC).

The committee recommended the revival of the Free Legal Aid Committee (FLAC) under the SME-LC for the benefit of the micro to medium sized entrepreneurs and make doing business easy for them.

Unisame President Zulfikar Thaver appreciated the role of Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) and urged the policy makers to take CPLC as the role model to protect the SMEs.

He said that the memorandum and articles of association of Smeda, empower it to advocate the cause of the sector and the SME-LC and it is recommended that the Smeda must exercise its role effectively.

Col Assad Chahan (Retd) said that the SMEs need guidance and education on how to write complaints and how to approach appropriate forums for redress.

Shujjat Ali said that the price control committee of the government in each province should be made more effective to control the quality and prices of the goods and commodities.

He lamented that the retailers are profiteering the most and avoiding taxes by remaining out of the tax net.

Smeda Legal Manager Feroze Ahmed appreciated the aim and object of the proposed SME-LC and the revival of the free legal aid committee and agreed to forward the proposal to his superiors.