SMEs development top priority to curb poverty: Governor Punjab

November 27, 2018: Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar on Tuesday said development of SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) sector is the top priority of incumbent government for creating employment opportunities and curbing poverty in the country.

He was addressing the inaugural session of a two-day 3rd SME Conference organized by Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) in collaboration with University of Management and Technology (UMT).

He acknowledged significance of SMEs and vowed to transform Pakistan into a 'business friendly country' by devising conducive policies based on solid research.

"Since Pakistan has been seeking to strengthen its economic position at global level, the implementation of research-based policy making across SME sector has become a fundamental necessity and I see that we have taken a first step towards developing this research culture in Pakistan through this conference," he said.

Governor Punjab termed the thematic areas of the conference as quite realistic and logical, which included SME Policy, Entrepreneurship and startup ecosystem in Pakistan, Sustainable Development, China Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC) and opportunities for SMEs, and the CPEC and Regional Integration.

He was of the view that these were very important areas which needed immediate attention in forging ahead, and hoped that panel discussions and research papers presentation on the aforementioned themes and recommendations emerging would be equally beneficial for all stakeholders including researchers and the policy makers.

Today's conference, he added, was an important step to provide the necessary impetus to create an environment where an extensive research base could be developed, which would subsequently help encourage policy makers and professionals to take development initiatives with a broad vision and result-oriented mission.

Sher Ayub asserted that SMEDA, as part of Ministry of Industries and Production, Government of Pakistan, had played an important role in facilitating economic growth through promotion of the SME sector by introducing SME Policy formulation, sector development strategies, firm level assistance to SMEs, useful feasibility studies and potential district profiles for cluster development.    

(APP)