State Bank and MCCI organise a two-day SME Mela in Multan

KARACHI: The SBP in collaboration with the Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) organised a two-day Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Mela on January 24-25, 2022, a statement said.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Muhammad Usman Dar at inaugural session, highlighted the progress of Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan Programme, especially designed for young entrepreneurs in the country.

He praised the personal commitment of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqir in expanding the access to credit at grass root levels including small businesses, women entrepreneurs, and people dreaming to own their home through SME Asaan finance (SAAF), Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar (MPMG) and SBP refinance scheme for women entrepreneurs.

The SBP Banking Services Corporation (SBP BSC) managing director Muhammad Ashraf Khan said that the SBP is making all its efforts to enhance collaboration with the industry and chambers across the country to raise awareness of its credit schemes to boost their utilisation.

The SBP BSC, in partnership with industry chambers and women associations, is working under a new mechanism to identify potential businesses and their employees to apply in the banks for loans under concessional credit schemes for SMEs and housing, he said.

This Mela would bring banks and business community under one roof, providing an opportunity to micro, small, and medium enterprises to seek guidance from concerned officials of the SBP and commercial banks about concessionary refinance schemes, Khan added.

He encouraged the SMEs to apply under the SBP’s SAAF that have strong business viability but do not have collateral to offer.

MCCI president Khawaja Muhammad Hussain assured full support of all regional chambers for creating awareness about the government and SBP concessional financing schemes among the business community of Multan and surrounding areas.

The event was attended by officials and members of chambers of industry and commerce, associations of traders and women entrepreneurs, and SMEs clusters of Multan, Khanewal, Vehari, D G Khan along with the officials of SBP BSC and banks.

The participants of the event were briefed about the key features of SAAF and PM Kamyab Jawan Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme on the first day.

Under the SAAF Scheme, collateral free financing of up to Rs10 million is available through eight participating banks. Similarly, under Kamyab Jawan Scheme, concessional loans of up to Rs25 million are available at end user rate of three per cent to five per cent.

On the second day, the participants were apprised about the key features of SBP’s financing scheme for renewable energy and Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar (MPMG) Scheme.

Over 600 businesses and firms attended the Mela and visited the banks’ stalls to seek knowledge of SBP’s financing schemes and banks’ loan products.

Notably, 264 participants registered themselves at various bank’s stalls to express interest in concessional schemes, including 105 SMEs and women entrepreneurs who applied on the spot for financing under different SBP’s schemes and Kamyab Jawan Programme.

During the event, MD SBP BSC also distributed cheques among the borrowers of Habib Bank Limited (HBL), Bank of Punjab (BoP) and Bank Alfalah under SBP’s SAAF for renewable energy and Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar (MPMG) Scheme.