ISLAMABAD, The Small and Medium Enterprises Authority (SMEDA) and Extreme Commerce have committed to enhance the local Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) linkage with global value chain.
The SMEDA and Extreme Commerce have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to empower the local SMEs to benefit from the e-commerce initiatives and opportunities available for the Pakistani enterprises, said a press release issued here on Wednesday.
CEO SMEDA Hashim Raza, speaking on this occasion, said that “SMEDA is planning to launch a sustainable programme for enhancing access of SMEs to world markets through Amazon and other leading platforms.
The partnership will also enable the local businesses to take advantage of the global e-commerce platforms by providing them necessary education and training as well, he said.
“We are going to take all leading firms supporting E-Commerce into the loop. It will enable SMEs of Pakistan to avail the highest benefits out of the government of Pakistan’s official arrangement with Amazon”.
The Small and Medium Enterprises Authority (SMEDA) has been mandated to encourage Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to benefit from the digital transition to reach more customers by enhancing their productivity and increasing operational efficiencies.
He further said, “The first MoU signed with ‘Extreme Commerce’ is focused on skills development and capacity building of SMEs on E-Commerce”.
He said that the journey towards digital transition can be a difficult and complicated task for the SMEs, to enable their products and services on the available E-commerce platforms etc.
Pakistan has an approx. 3.2 million SMEs. SMEs constituted nearly 90 percent of all the enterprises in Pakistan; employ 80 percent of the non-agricultural labor force; and their share in the annual GDP is 40 percent, approximately, he said.
However, unlike large enterprises in the formal sector, a small and medium enterprise is constrained by financial and other resources, he added.
He said this inherent characteristic of an SME makes it imperative that there should be a mechanism through which it may get support in different functions of business including technical upgradation, marketing, financial and human resource training and development.
CEO SMEDA said that to build a knowledge platform that can enable new thinking and innovation for the SME E-Commerce approach, both SMEDA and Extreme Commerce will be working with the academic and research institutions across Pakistan and beyond.
He said this will also encourage and motivate the students and fresh graduates for E-commerce business start-ups.
Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), is the premier institution of the Government of Pakistan under the Ministry of Industries and Production, he said.
CEO Extreme Commerce Sunny Ali, in his address, said that MOU with SMEDA would at one hand help SMEs build a better understanding of the dynamics of global marketplaces and at other empower SMEs to get started for selling products and services on Amazon
“We also have another similar platform, that is something very much needed for the Pakistani SMEs, as this will help them get skilled and open global markets for them leading to potentially a Billion Dollar economy for Pakistan by 2025.
Both the organizations have committed to conduct online and offline awareness sessions for the SMEs owners to make them aware about the benefits of E-commerce, he said.
In this regard, market-oriented skills development programs/training/boot camps will be conducted as well.
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