SMEDA to establish three women skill development centres

General Manager Out-Reach (GMOR), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), Javed Iqbal Khattak has said that the authority will soon establish skill development centers for women at DI Khan, Peshawar and Bahawalpur. Talking to this scribe here the other day, he said that training centers will provide hands on support and business services to Women Entrepreneurs (WEs).
He added that the center will be a highly accessible platform for women to get guidance and start their own businesses. He said that SMEDA will also soon establish a honey business development center in district Karak. Highlighting the significance of the honey business center he said, it will result in development of honey business in the region.
The centre will train the honey bee keepers and traders in the business and result in producing high quality of bee and will increase export of the honey commodity. He said that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are always in need of a helping hand at various stages of their growth to flourish and play their role in economic development.
He said that the authority has always been on the forefront to facilitate SMEs across the country through building their capacity and by imparting different market driven trainings. Being part of the vision 2025, SMEDA has made different PC-1s which envisage the development of SMEs, he said, adding that these initiatives would enable a large number of SMEs to earn their livelihood in dignified manner.
Discussing the potential of different districts of KP, he said that D.I Khan is famous for its high quality of dates all over the country. Realizing the potential of the district, SMEDA envisaged a plan to start date processing unit in the area.
He said that next year financial year, SMEDA would start the unit. He said the unit will give an impetus to the business of dates, adding that under the project the producers, dealers and processors of dates will be able to earn better in the market across the country due to better quality of dates. Furthermore, there is a need to address issues such as packaging, marketing and product quality to meet the market demands, he pointed out.