Representative of the German agency GIZ/GFA Ms Katharina Merkel has said there is a vast cope of business for Pakistani business consultants in Afghanistan. She stated this while leading a 13-member Afghani business delegation that held a meeting with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) officials.
Katherina, while identifying purpose of the delegation for visiting Pakistan, said that GIZ NaWi and GFA were working to establish sustainable and qualified BDS support centres with different partners in Afghanistan. GFA has also encouraged local trainers to establish their own small BDS firm and provide BDS support to the entrepreneurs on fee-paying basis, she said adding that these local trainers were trained by support of GIZ GFA in CEFE TOT and C3 Modules by international trainers.
She further informed that these BDSs in Balkh, Kunduz and Takhar provinces were trying to survive based on projects which are given to them by GIZ NaWi and GFA but they never try to develop a strategic plan for their own marketing and sustainability. Due to these problems currently we have BDSs which exist but do not play an active role in SME development in Afghanistan, she said.
This is the situation that resulted into arranging an exposure visit of Afghan BDS delegation to Pakistan, she added and hoped that the visit will enable Afghan BDS firms to compare their services with the services provided by Pakistan for SME development. The delegation spent a complete day at Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) head office and witnessed the presentations given by Smeda experts on the business development services to be provided by Smeda.
The delegation members appreciated the way Smeda was providing services to SMEs in Pakistan in collaboration with private business development services institutions. Earlier, Sultan Tiwana apprised the delegation about various projects and services of Smeda and said Smeda was also maintaining a network of private BDS organisations.