President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said promotion of entrepreneurship is an important tool for sustainable development. The SME sector is the lifeline for growth and the small to medium sized enterprises need to be facilitated to modernize their businesses.

The Prime Minister’s Youth Loan Scheme ia appreciated but it has its limitations and based on good luck in the ballot only whereas it is the duty of the government to finance every youth who has a sound business plan and has the capacity to repay. Now with the resignation of Maryam Nawaz Sharif there is need for a dedicated person like her and not just a bureaucrat. An SME expert is required to fill the post and make it successful.

He reiterated that the government needs to work from grass root level. The primary sector of the economy is functioning under very poor conditions. It is neglected and is victimized.

He urged the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) to focus on the primary sector and bring about the much needed improvements in their areas.

The union also called upon SMEDA to study the secondary sector and the tertiary sectors and carry out training programmes for the sectors to enable them adopt modern systems. The secondary and the tertiary sectors are still relying on orthodox systems and need to be rejuvenated to meet the global challenges.

The union appreciated the efforts of SMEDA and urged them to do more for the education of value addition, e-Commerce, transfer of technology and arrange foreign collaboration for the SMEs desirous of manufacturing goods with foreign collaboration. SMEDA needs to roll up its sleeves and work for the uplift of the sector practically.

UNISAME is facilitating the SMEs to obtain finance from commercial banks, financial institutions, joint venture companies and large sector industrialist seeking equity in higher medium enterprises.