KARACHI: The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) has facilitated Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Federal Cabinet on the announcement of the SME Policy 2021, a statement said.

Unisame president Zulfikar Thaver thanked the prime minister and the Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Khusro Bakhtiar especially, on the announcement of the SME policy 2021 to uplift the underprivileged sector.

Thaver also appreciated the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) for their untiring efforts for the approval of the policy and comprehension of the requirements of the sector.

He said that the Unisame’s demands were for affordable finance without collateral, energy at affordable rates and subsidy for alternate energy, marketing and technical support, land at concession under pay as you earn scheme.

“We demanded a strong Smeda which could reach the SMEs all over Pakistan. We requested [the] SMEDA to take [the] SME farmers under its fold as agriculture is our backbone,” Thaver said.

“In addition we demanded tax incentives, one window system. We need modern banking, insurance, leasing and export credit guarantee insurance at affordable premium,” he added.

The other requirements were an SME institute, SME ombudsman, an SME export promotion bureau to promote specifically the wares of SMEs and an effective SME gallery for exhibiting SME wares, he said.

Thaver urged the prime minister to take Smeda directly under his secretariat like in many countries of the world.

The Unisame Council said that it is waiting for the complete details and expressed confidence that if any of its demands has been omitted in the policy, it can be revised and modified to cover the requirements of the sector.

Also Read

Unisame dismayed over delay in SME Policy

KARACHI: The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) has expressed dismay...