Provincial Industries, Investment and Commerce Minister Muhammad Akmal Cheema has said that a strategy has been evolved for the development of small and medium industries (SMEs) for ensuring strong industrial base in the Punjab.
Talking to Business Recorder here on Saturday afternoon he said that under the programme SMEs industrial estates would be set up in major industrial cities of the Province. The first SME industrial estate would be established shortly in Lahore and later the sphere of this programme would be expanded to the other parts of the Punjab he said.
Ajmal Cheema said that the step was being taken for the promotion of local industries and to mitigate the problems confronting to SMEs in the Punjab.
The Minister said that under the programme special attention would be accorded on the development of agro-based industries and dairy development in the Province.
Ajmal Cheema said the concept of this programme was to expand industrial base for generating the employment opportunities for educated, skilled and semi-skilled persons in the Punjab.
Under the programme he said efforts were being made for setting up small-scale industries in far-off rural areas for providing employment to the people at their doorstep as well as to stop rapid rural migration towards the cities he added.
Cheema disclosed that so far loan amounting to Rs 2 billion had been advanced to the newcomers and SMEs for setting up new industrial units and upgradation of existing industrial units in the Punjab.
In addition to this, special attention had also been focused on the "women entrepreneurship" and many a step had already been taken for facilitating the businesswomen in the Punjab, he added.
The business community should concentrate on producing non-traditional products with innovation for fetching maximum foreign exchange because there was a great demand of non-traditional products globally. The government would provide all facilities including financial assistance to the willing persons for manufacturing non-traditional products he added.
Ajmal Cheema said apart from this, government was also providing loan facilities for the advancement and expansion of agro-based industries and dairy development, engineering and information technology in the Punjab.
The Provincial government had developed "Investment-Friendly climate" for further accelerating the rapidity of industrial development for bringing big boom in existing export volume in the Punjab Ajmal said.
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