ICCI for early finalization of SME Policy

President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) Ahmed Hassan Moughal has said that SMEs played a key role in the economic development of any country, but these businesses in Pakistan were facing multiple problems due to lack of supportive policies.
He stressed that the government should take measures for early finalization of SME Policy 2019 to create a conducive environment for better growth of SMEs.
Ahmed Hassan Moughal said in a statement that SMEs were the backbone of our economy as they constituted over 90 percent of all enterprises in Pakistan, contributed 40 percent to GDP growth, employed 80 percent of the non-agricultural labor force and were a major source of exports. However, it was unfortunate that these businesses were not getting due attention of the government despite the fact that the SME sector was an important pillar of the economy and needed priority focus for development and growth.
He said that SMEDA has been working for the last many months on SME Policy 2019, but still, the policy could not be finalized. He urged that government in consultation with all stakeholders should immediately finalize and announce new SME policy as the last SME policy developed in 2007 could not contribute effectively in promoting SMEs in the country. The President ICCI further stated that lack of easy access to finance was the major hurdle for SMEs due to which share of SMEs in total private sector credit was just around 6-8 percent. He emphasized that new SME policy should ensure easy access to credit for SMEs so that these businesses could grow up to their real potential and play an effective role in the economic development of the country.