LAHORE – Chief Executive Officer of Small & Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) Hashim Raza has sought suggestions from the private sector for formulation of new SME Policy. Speaking at a ceremony at Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Saturday, he said that Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted to facilitate SMEs due to their key role in growth of economy. He said that SMEDA wanted to further strengthen partnership with LCCI. LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah said that approval of National SME Policy Action Plan was a welcome sign that would help to resolve the issues being faced by the SMEs. He appreciated the initiative of seeking input from all the stakeholders in order to improve the present laws and regulations affecting the businesses at small and medium levels. He informed the CEO SMEDA that LCCI has more than 200 standing committees and one of them is S/C on “Small & Medium Industry”. He urged the CEO SMEDA to provide SMEs better access to finance in the next meeting of National Coordination Committee. He said that Pakistan’s private sector credit to GDP ratio is at 17% which is the lowest in the region. The SMEs only get 6.4% of private sector financing while the number of SME borrowers are just around 189,000. He said that commercial banks in collaboration with relevant government Institutions should facilitate SMEs through innovative financing schemes at low mark-up rates with minimal collateral requirement. He highlighted the need of providing technical and professional trainings to the individuals associated with SME sector.
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