ISLAMABAD: The government has constituted the National Coordination Committee on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)' development under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar for growth of the SMEs sector in the country.
According to a notification issued here on Wednesday by the Prime Minister Secretariat, Prime Minister Imran Khan has formed 14-member National Coordination Committee to promote overall development of SMEs. The notification said that the prime minister had directed to review and finalise the draft SME policy within two weeks. The secretarial support to the committee will be provided by the Ministry of Industries and Production.
The Minister for Industries and Production, as convenor, will brief the prime minister once a week on impediments, recommendations for improvement and overall progress on implementation of the prime minister's policy guidelines.
The committee chairman can opt to appoint any person from the public and private sectors, if deemed necessary, the notification said.
The committee will focus on fiscal and monetary incentives for the SMEs growth, and suggest measures to address market address.
It will propose legislative and regulatory amendments to enhance ease of doing business for the SMEs and encourage documentation for the sector.
The committee will suggest guidelines to reduce regulatory burden on the SMEs and come up with deliverables and targets for implementation of approved measures besides assigning responsibilities with timelines.
It will hold regular weekly meetings to review progress and act as a focal point for inter-provincial, inter-ministerial, inter-departmental and inter-agency coordination for implementation.
The committee will develop a mechanism to ensure coherent and synchronised implementation of the SMEs growth measures.
Besides Hammad Azhar, other members of the committee include secretaries of the Ministry of Industries, Commerce Division, Finance Division, Power Division, Petroleum Division, and Law and Justice Ministry, all chief secretaries, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan chairman, chief executive officers of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), and of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), the State Bank of Pakistan deputy governor, and one representative of the SMEs sector from each province.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020