UNISAME SUBMITS PROPOSALS FOR REVISED SME POLICY

The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) invited the attention of federal planning minister Prof Ahsan Iqbal to the impediments to SME growth and urged him to facilitate the sector in the revised SME policy being prepared by his ministry.
President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said the impediments to SME growth are lack of education, finance, proper environment, infrastructure, logistics and these days besides the law and order the energy crisis is a real issue.
In order to promote, encourage, facilitate, motivate and upgrade the SME sector UNISAME has suggested to the government to take the following measures.
1. To educate the SMEs about the new technologies in production, management, marketing, accounting & inventory control through the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA)
2. Encourage the SMEs to modernize and make plans for balancing and replacement of their units and arrange transfer of technology through the SME associations and chamber of commerce.
3. Facilitate the SMEs through banking, leasing,insurance as these are the pillars for growth.
4. The SMEs in order to progress need law and order and protection and need to feel safe and comfortable.
5. The infrastructure needs to be improved.
6. The SME sector is dependent on logistics which encompasses transportation, warehousing and collateral management.
7. The need for alternate energy is being felt due to the energy crisis.
8. There is an urgent need of industrial estates in all the provinces.
9. The government should adopt a policy of fair taxation and also give tax benefit to innovative industries and new units.
10. The SMEs need their own chamber of commerce and also their own export promotion bureau.
11. The NPO, EDB, SMEDA, PCSIR and TDAP are all dedicated institutions and working hard for the promotion and development of the SMEs together with the commercial banks but they all need to co-ordinate with one another for integrated efforts
12. There is urgent need for promoting and facilitating e-Commerce and the government needs to establish e-payment gateway through National Bank of Pakistan.

Salman Merchant convener UNISAME e-Commerce stressed the need for educating the SMEs on information technology which he said is the key to promotion and development and offered the services of UNISAME to entrepreneurs for image building, branding, marketing, web designing and enabling e-Commerce for global marketing.

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