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PESHAWAR: Various trade bodies including Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Peshawar Chamber of Small Trade and Industries (PCSTI), Abbottabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) and Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) have demanded the formation of Board of Directors (BoD) of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA).

The authority is running its affairs since the completion of the last board tenure three years back and since then it lacks the representation of private sector.

According to business community, the lack of private sector on the board is affecting its performance and a large number decisions requiring the approval of the board is pending. The stakeholders are demanding Prime Minister Imran Khan to intervene into the matter and direct to form the board with immediate effect. Talking to this scribe, UNISAME president Zulfikar Thaver has lamented that SMEDA is without a board of directors (BoD), without sufficient funds and the worst part is without an SME policy.

"It is very painful to see that an institution which is supposed to play a predominant role for the majority sector is kept in doldrums due to procrastination on the part of the superior bureaucracy and matters left pending for want of prompt decision making," added Thaver.

SMEDA BoD as per its articles and memorandum of association must have one representative from each province and one representative from the SME association as a matter of practice.

Unfortunately the neglect of SMEDA badly reflects on the sector which is acknowledged as the backbone of the economy, the engine of growth and the vehicle for employment and poverty alleviation. UNISAME experts have urged the PM to give the sector priority as it has suffered the most because of the pandemic.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020

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