The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (Smeda) is working to promote the business development services' providers through various programmes, including consultant database, panels of experts and Smeda accounting package for the benefit of SMEs.
This was stated by Smeda General Manager B&BSDS Sultan Tiwana at a seminar on "market opportunities for business development service providers", which was organised by Smeda and the Business Support Fund at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Thursday. Consultants and service providers from various sectors of the economy were also present.
Working under the Ministry of Industries, Production and Special Initiative, Smeda was established in October 1998 to take on the challenge of developing Small and Medium Enterprise in Pakistan. Smeda is not only an SME policy-advisory body for the government of Pakistan but also helps other stakeholders in addressing their SME development agendas, Tiwana said.
BSF Chief Operating Officer Ali Sarfraz said BSF could pay up to 50 percent of the fees of service providers for various SME consultancy projects. He said BSF is committed to support to over 300 SME projects from all over Pakistan. Consultants have been engaged for the IT services, product development, process improvement, marketing, quality management, human resource development, certification and training.
The SME Business Support Fund was established in 2005 by the Ministry of Finance with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank to provide financial assistance of up to Rs 1.8 million to SMEs. Its objectives are to support SMEs and promote consultants, he added.
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