A five-member delegation led by Ms Robin L Raphel, Co-ordinator for Economic and Development Assistance (EDA) of the US Embassy on Tuesday visited the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) head office. The delegation discussed with the Smeda Chief Executive Officer Shahid Rasheed the opportunities for establishing joint ventures in different fields of the SME sector.
Smeda General Manager Syed Iqbal Anwar Kidwai, General Manger Support Iftikhar Hussain, General Manager Business Development Services Sultan Tiwana and a number of the other senior officials were also present in the meeting. Ms Robin L Raphel revealed that US Embassy was working very closely with the government of Pakistan to develop industrial as well as the social sector in the country.
Robert J Wilson, Mission Director, US Agency for International Development expressed keen interest to extend assistance in development of various industrial sectors including tourism, mineral, textile and horticulture in Pakistan. Earlier, Shahid Rashid apprised the delegation about the plan designed by Smeda for industrial development of Malakand and said that the implementation on Smeda plan will help revive economic activities in Malakand by boosting up SMEs there.