Director, Khyber Group of Industries, Mohammad Nauman has urged for making organised efforts to tap potential of SME sector for creating mass employment in the country in general and terrorism affected Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in particular. "SMEs are backbone of economy. Success of every developed country is behind this sector," he said while talking to Business Recorder here on Tuesday.
"Whether it is China, Brazil or India, the foundation of all large economies is built on SMEs and its effects can be felt in form of mass employment, baseline for industry, technological advancement and above all social cohesiveness," he added. Nauman, the director of the largest manufacturer of bulbs and energy savers in Pakistan said the policy makers should make concrete efforts and do proper planning to develop SMEs in KP to offset the affects of militancy and terrorism on the economy.
First of all, the policymakers have to understand the concept and logic behind SMEs. All social ills can be curbed by establishing and promoting small businesses by providing required inputs to our talented people.
"If policymakers at the helm of affairs want to see their province prosperous and developed they will have to come up with strong policies on SMEs because there is no other way of mass employment and development other than establishing SMEs sector," he observed.
The provincial government could also take help from donor agencies to understand and implement the framework which they had prepared after decades of experiments in different developing countries, he said adding China could be a perfect study. Entrepreneurs in KP were well acquainted with small and medium scale industry management as most of the provincial manufacturing industry falls in the same category. The only missing point was sincere efforts by government to come up with long term vision for development of this province. The industrial sector of KP was well in line with SMEs concept, he added.
Another advantage of KP was its close proximity with FATA, which could become engine of growth for province due to its large mineral wealth and other vast resources. The commercial geography of the province was rich enough to support and supplement small-scale ventures.
If the provincial government set up SMEs investment board with its sub committees on divisional level to find and identify commercial avenues on local level. It would help to understand the potential and capacity of the province. Banks and financial intuitions were always looking for investments and financing and funding for small-scale ventures was safe for them as loss could be bearable.
Only the provincial government has to take step for framing clear polices and rest of things would be taken care by other stakeholders. Large-scale investment would never come until and unless there is solid foundation to hold it. SMEs sector is so fast that its benefit could be reaped in shortest possible time in form of taxes, employment and advance industrial base.
Another example of SME was match industry, which has market share of 90 percent of whole country. All this was achieved by private sector without any outside support, this reflects that their entrepreneurs were quite capable and open to face any business challenge, he said. He reiterated that government would have to make a plan for the future. Policymakers would have to work hard to make SMEs a success story in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he added.