BSF established for the promotion of SMEs

In collaboration with Asian Development Bank, the Ministry of Finance has established Business Support Fund for the promotion of Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Pakistan; it would facilitate both individual enterprises and a group of enterprises.
David Monkman, Chief Executive Officer of Business Support Fund, stated this while speaking at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday. The LCCI President Shahid Hassan Sheikh and LCCI Convenor on SMEs Rehmatullah Javed were also present on the occasion.
David Monkman said that the target group for Business Support Fund comprises established SMEs with an operating history of at least three years; these include enterprises employing up to 250 permanent employees. He said that the objective of BSF is to assist in the improvement of the competitiveness of SMEs and to enhance their revenue generating capacity and profitability. He said that BSF provides matching grants for the use of business support services. The grants would be provided after the completion and acceptance of agreed activities, he added.
According to him, BSF could support activities such as short-term consultancies for management, marketing production, productivity, product development and adoption, packaging, quality standards, technology transfer or up-gradation, market development, human resource development, research, benchmarking, promotion and similar demand driven support services.
Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Shahid Hassan Sheikh said that SMEs contribute about 28 percent to the GDP of the country and 25 percent to the export earnings of the manufacturing sector. He said that their share in industrial employment is estimated at 78 percent, but despite being so important, they lack facilities of credit, infrastructure, consultancy and innovation. He said that while the establishment of Business Support Fund is a welcome step, it is expected that the disbursement of the Fund would be made most prudently and to the genuine SMEs. "It would be appreciated if the focal points of the Fund are located in the Chambers of Commerce and Industry or the clusters of SMEs located in different cities," he added.
LCCI Convenor on SMEs Rehmatullah Javed said that application form and criteria for the grant of Fund must be very simple on basic information on the SME, which may be designed with consultations of Chambers and Trade bodies. He said that a follow up process of post grant monitoring and consultative services for SMEs might also be designed/set-up. It should also complimented with a continuous support in the information, management, marketing and financing sector for desired improvement to achieve results of grants to SME so that they may graduate in the next sector of industry/economy.