Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar, Federal Minister for Industries and Production chaired a review meeting on National Coordination Committee on SME Development this afternoon. Mr. Jawwad Raffique Malik, Secretary Industries and Production, along with senior officials of Ministry and Mr. Hashim Raza, CEO SMEDA were also present there. Chief Secretary Punjab, Mr. Kamran Afzal,Representatives of State Bank of Pakistan, Board of Investments, Ministry of Finance and Provincial departments participated in the meeting. The forum comprehensively deliberated upon the framework of proposed National SME policy. The Chair was briefed about the prominent features entailing financial incentives (enhancing SMEs access to collateral-free lending); fiscal incentives (simplified taxation regime for SMEs), SME registration portal, formation of common facility centers & warehouses and Guillotine/ regulatory simplification for SMEs countrywide. In his remarks, the Minister said that the development of SMEs is imperative for sustainable economic growth in the country. He maintained that the incumbent government is working on a comprehensive policy for cross sectoral development of SMEs particularly export-oriented businesses in the country. The Minister highlighted that the government is focusing on enhancement of credit financing to tax filer SMEs as well as increasing credit limit to collateral asset owning enterprises for expansion of existing business. He said that new policy would focus on enlargement of bandwidth of micro-financing and the venture investment for SMEs with help of international donors. The Minister noted that proposed SME policy would outline incentives for women-oriented businesses thus reducing gender gap in financial inclusion and mainstreaming the role of women in the economy. He said that the MoIP would allot land to SMEs on rental lease model in SEZs. He called for specialised lending scheme for garment sector and IT enabled services within purview of SME policy. At the conclusion of meeting, the Minister directed relevant Provincial departments and SMEDA to finalize the new SME policy according to the Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision to promote cross-sectoral small business across the country.
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