"Small and
medium scale industries are the backbone of the national economy," the
Prime Minister said in these words while chairing a meeting of the Small and
Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) yesterday, expressing a fact
that is recognized worldwide and through which people's participation in
economic development and prosperity can be ensured. Several countries including
China and Japan have set excellent and worthy examples in this regard. In
Pakistan too, at one time, very valuable and useful progress was made in this
direction through the Small Scale Industries Organization, but the upheaval of
governments and political crises did not allow the continuity of policies to be
maintained and big businesses became an obstacle to the development of small
industries. In this context, the current government's efforts to develop small
and medium scale industries are certainly highly commendable.
During the
briefing, the meeting was informed that the SMEDA organization has been formed
on the instructions of the Prime Minister and its Board of Directors meetings
are being held regularly. The steering committee of the SME sector includes the
chief secretaries of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. On this
occasion, the Prime Minister clarified that the current government is taking
all possible steps to provide necessary facilities to small and large
businesses. Directing to provide all necessary facilities to make Pakistan’s
industries a part of the global supply chain, the Prime Minister clarified that
the center and the provinces should work in cooperation for the development of
small and medium enterprises. During the briefing, the participants were
informed that the process of hiring international experts for the development
of small and medium enterprises has been started. The State Bank of Pakistan
has issued instructions to the banks to simplify the forms for providing loans
to SMEs, while the Ministry of Industries and Production has improved its
coordination with the provincial governments for the development of SMEs. The
governments of Sindh and Balochistan have prepared a comprehensive strategy for
SMEs and the governments of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and
Azad Jammu and Kashmir are preparing strategies in this regard.
The meeting
was further informed that on the instructions of the Prime Minister, data on
small and medium scale industries and businesses is being collected in the
country. These details clearly show that the federal government has adopted a
strategy of giving full importance to the promotion of small businesses and
industries in the ongoing economic recovery program. Pakistan can learn a lot
from China's experiences in this regard. China has made small industries a very
important part of the prosperity of the people and the development of the national
economy by providing facilities like loans on easy terms to small investors and
artisans, concessions in electricity and gas tariffs, tax exemptions for
several years and official arrangements for transporting manufactured goods to
global markets. As a result, China has achieved such a competitive ability in
global markets that no one is left to compete with it.
In Pakistan,
small industries include the production of cloth on khadi, carpet weaving,
embroidery, jewelry making, decorative pottery made of clay, sports equipment
and many other such items. Products made from Sindhi Ajrak, Peshawari Chapal,
Balochi embroidery are popular all over the world and the required facilities
are provided. By facilitating access to global markets, these small industries
can truly be made the backbone of the national economy.
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