Boosting small, medium enterprises provides solution to economic woes: Murtaza Mehmood

Lists measures taken by the govt for the sector

LAHORE (Web Desk) – Federal Minister for Industries and Production Makhdoom Syed Murtaza Mehmood on Tuesday described developing the small and medium enterprises as the ultimate solution to tackle the economic challenges and said the government was committed to creating an ecosystem of conducive policies and facilities for their rapid growth.

He was addressing a ceremony organised by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) in connection with the World MSME Day.

The government was fully cognizance of the micro, small and medium enterprises’ significance, Mehmood said and added that a National SME Policy was being implemented across the country, in a well-coordinated manner.

“Our vision for SME development is to provide an enabling business and investment environment with ease of tax and regulatory compliance, and easy sustainable access to credit.”

According to the federal minister, the government was undertaking a concerted effort to promote industrialization, innovation, enterprise development and export growth.

He informed the audience that an amount of Rs10 billion had been allocated for providing subsidized loans to small businesses through PM's Youth Programme besides relaunching the SME Asaan Finance Scheme.

Another amount of Rs5 billion was allocated for provision of concessional loans to the agro industry along with a five-year tax holiday, the minister mentioned.

He highlighted a number of initiatives introduced for inclusion of youth and women in the SME sector. Besides the PM Youth Loan scheme, IT sector, being a core interest of youth, was declared as an SME sector, he said.

An amount of Rs5 billion had been allocated for women's empowerment in the budget, said Mehmood.