The management of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) started consultations with stakeholders, particularly trade bodies for inclusion of their inputs in the proposed SMEDA Business Plan 2013-18. In this connection, the top management of the authority is holding meetings with stakeholders with the purpose of seeking their proposals and recommendations in this regard.
In this regard, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), SMEDA, Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera along with provincial chiefs of the authority for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab visited Sarhad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCI) and briefed the business community of the province on the proposed business plan for next five years.
The plan said that SME sector has long been recognised as one of the main stays of any progress and growing economy, which contribute to development in multiple ways; creating employment for an expanding labour force, providing much needed flexibility and innovation in the economy and contributing to value addition in gross domestic production (GDP). Materialisation of these benefits, however, remained a challenge for many developing countries.
The proposed plan envisages exponential growth of key emerging and conventional SME sectors, selected primarily on the basis of their respective potential in terms of employment, contribution to GDP and exports. The goals and outcomes set by the SMEDA for the next five years are increasing the employment indicators by 10 million, which is presently 14.85m and planned to reach to 25m by 2018 increasing the present share of SMEs in GDP from US $73.95 billion to US $193.50b, number of SMEs from 1.73m to 2 million and increasing the exports of the sector from US $18.21b to US $54.20 billion.
The pillars of the SMEDA proposed Business Plan are policy advocacy, developing entrepreneurial ecosystem and sector development plans. Under advocacy, the authority is developing strategic SME Development Framework (2013-2018, which will be based on inputs from all stakeholders including relevant policy making institutions, business support organisations, private sector representatives' bodies, not-profit organisations and international development partners and will serve as a coherent strategy for SME development in Pakistan.
The proposed development framework will set out key priorities for reforms in legal and regulatory environment as well as programmes and projects with tangible, time bound deliverables and built-in monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. The strategic SME development framework will be supplemented with the publication of an SME White Paper annually, announcing incentives and measures for the promotion of SMEs in the country. Furthermore, evidence based policy advocacy shall be undertaken to reduce the cost of doing business for creating a hassle free business environment.
Similarly, under Developing Entrepreneurial Ecosystem and supporting new enterprise creation, the authority will focus on the major initiatives of access to finance, youth, women development, regional development, E-Business Development Services and establishment of SME Club. Pakistan's demographic profile renders it a uniqueness that ban either is an opportunity or a challenge while developing and promoting an entrepreneurial culture is a key pillar of SMEDA's proposed business plan. Under the plan the focus is, therefore, on youth, women and regional development. Access to finance has been identified as a binding constraint for start-ups and growth of businesses is being addressed as a distinct theme and programmes have been developed to address both demand and supply side issues.
E-Business Development Services will enable SMEs to avail online business support services while SME Club is being developed for establishing inter-firm linkages and providing preferred value-added services including Real Time Business Opportunities (trade leads), access to international markets, business networking opportunities along with preferred BDS services. Initiatives for Regional Development-building upon indigenous endowments are also being undertaken for exploiting regional potential.
Similarly, under Sector Development Plan, the authority prioritised 13 sectors for development interventions and value-chain analysis has been carried out for each sector, identifying game changers that can transform the entire dynamic of the sector and accrue benefits across the entire spectrum of the value chain. The prioritised sectors included logistics, gems & jewellery, horticulture, ICT & Allied Services, fisheries, construction, Dairy and Livestock, engineering, energy, leather, minerals, tourism and textile.
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