"The government's SME policy is long awaited, which is still not yet finalised and duly announced". This was stated by Abdul Majeed Memon, Senior Vice President, Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, during a meeting with Shahab Khawaja, CEO, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority, who called on the Chamber along with Iqbal Qidwai, General Manager, Smeda.
Memon said that in previous year's budget announcements, SME sector was given special preference and termed as one of the drivers of the economic growth, but till now no SME policy have been formulated and budgetary measures announced earlier remained unimplemented.
He strongly emphasised on an early announcement of SME policy and suggested that SMEs should be given full support by the government for their growth, particularly by declaring tax holidays, exemption from all types of industrial and labour inspections, and providing soft loans without collateral, to them. The SVP KCCI also informed the CEO Smeda that during a recent visit of KCCI delegation to UK, the Karachi Chamber has signed a project contract with Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry, UK; for joint cooperation between Karachi Chamber, Birmingham Chamber, UK and Naples Chamber, Italy, under European Union funded Asia Invest Programme 2003-2007, for joint cooperation in capacity building and development of SME sector in Pakistan, particularly in Karachi.
Further, Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), an affiliate of US Chamber of Commerce; have also shown interests in capacity building and strengthening private sector.
Present in the meeting were Muhammad Naqi Bari, Vice President; M. Ibrahim Kusumbi, Tariq Malik, Shahid Ismail, Talat Mahmood, Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan, Mohammad Ali, Saqib Naseem and Sultan Mahmood; members of the Managing Committee. Also present in the meeting were, Anjum Nisar, Mohib K. Habib, Acting Secretary, and M. Ishaque Subhani, Director Research, KCCI.-PR
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