KARACHI: The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) has urged the policy makers to implement the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Policy on fast track, a statement said on Monday.

Unisame President Zulfikar Thaver, in a committee meeting of the Unisame, stressed for fast implementation of the SME Policy 2021 in letter and spirit, saying that the SME sector is the majority sector.

He suggested strengthening banking, insurance, leasing (pay as you earn scheme) and logistics, adding that it is high time these tools are modernised to meet the challenges of the current times.

The Unisame Council emphasised on empowering the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) and also increasing the speed and efficiency of the bureaucracy for putting the plans into action, promised under the SME policy 2021.

The Unisame Council members recommended providing facilities for promoting border trade with Afghanistan and Iran, becoming a window for marketing produce of border countries and making the best of the opportunity as Afghanistan lacks global recognition and international acceptance.

Iran is facing difficulties as sanctions are not interpreted correctly and Pakistan could promote items not falling under these sanctions such as food and medicines, it said.

The Council also stressed the need for monitoring imports of various items which are made in Pakistan of international standards but are still imported, while emphasising the need to give top priority to import substitution industries and promote it.

The SME exporters said that the exports are increasing but it could be expanded more if the country’s geographical indications items are given attention and efforts are made to enter the international markets.

The Council also suggested the establishment of SME Liaison Committee (SME-LC) to act as a liaison between the entrepreneurs and the government and also a free legal aid sub-committee to protect the rights of the SMEs who are sometimes unnecessarily harassed and victimised by the officials.

The meeting resolved to contact the establishment for prompt implementation of the SME policies.