LAHORE: The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) has laid down a strategy to promote SMEs in the province of Gilgit-Balitstan that would be showcased as a Business and Culture Festival to be held by mid next month. Hashim Raza, CEO SMEDA, while addressing a meeting at SMEDA head office on Friday said that the government of Pakistan was keen to curb poverty and unemployment through growth of SMEs, and SMEDA, as per direction of the Federal Ministry of Industries and Production, was paying special attention on equal growth of SMEs in all regions of the country.

CEO SMEDA said that most of the existing SMEs in Gilgit-Baltistan were associated with Tourism sector dealing in processed food, beverage, handicrafts, transport, hospitality and other tourism-related services, which lacked in standardized and quality packaging and innovation.

He was confident that SMEDA interventions in the province would help add value, quality standards and product development on modern pattern.

He said that the current SME Policy had a lot of incentives for SMEs in the Gilgit-Baltistan and hoped the SMEs business, under SMEDA strategy, would be able to reach out also to the upper Hunza areas like Gojal.

CEO SMEDA expressed thanks to the Ministry of Industries and Production for supporting SMEDA’s action plan to promote SME sector in Gilgit-Baltistan and informed that Gilgit-Baltistan government, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation, Hunza Chamber of Small Traders and Small Industries and Tourism Department of Gilgit-Baltistan were equally partnered with SMEDA in arranging the Business and Cultural Festival to be held in mid of next month.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022