Lahore , October 13, 2008

Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) facilitated investment of Rs.15340.96 million during first decade of its operation, out of which Rs.9,500 million investment was in the Transport Sector only. This was disclosed by Mr. Shahid Rashid, Chief Executive Officer, SMEDA today while addressing a press conference at SMEDA Head Office to mark the completion of first decade of SMEDA, which was established on October 13, 1998. Mr. Jameel Afaqi and Mr. Iftikhar Hussain, General Managers, Mr. Alamgir Chaudhry, Provincial Chief, SMEDA-Punjab and Mr. Liaqat Ali Gohar, Deputy General Manager were also present on this occasion. Mr. Shahid Rashid said, the investment facilitation was made possible through program lending schemes designed for various SME sectors including Fisheries, Transport, Furniture, Power loom, Cutlery, Auto parts, Carpet, Footwear, Khaddar, Mining and Textile. The major banks involved in these schemes were NBP, Bank of Khyber, SME Bank, and the Union Bank.

CEO, SMEDA presented a review of the performance of his organization on its tenth anniversary. He stated that SMEDA, despite having a tiny structure with a small group of about 130 professionals, was striving to provide support and facilitation to the maximum number of SMEs around the country. The sector development strategies facilitated by SMEDA, in collaboration with other stakeholders, in Fisheries, Transport, Dairy, Gems & Jewelry, Marble & Granite, Furniture, Surgical Instruments, Textile and Leather sectors are contributing to enhancement of trade and investment, besides creating a number of employment opportunities and fresh avenues for exports. For instance, the Urban Transport Strategy of SMEDA had created 8,500 new jobs by bringing an investment of Rs. 9.5 billion and developing urban transport city network in seven cities i.e. Lahore , Karachi , Faisalabad , Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Sargodha , Multan and Gujranwala , he added.

Based upon SMEDA’s sector development strategies, Mr. Shahid Rashid said, about 7 new implementing agencies, in private-pubic partnership, such as Pakistan Dairy Development Company, Pakistan Gems & Jewelry Company, Pakistan Hunting and Sports Arms Development Company, Pakistan Stone Development Company, Pakistan Horticulture and Export Development Board and Agri-mall were now working actively for uplifting the respective sectors for increased exports, employment and investments.

CEO, SMEDA said that by undertaking 16 projects of Rs.1.68 billion investment under Public Sector Development Plan, SMEDA has considerable work on ground. He said that the projects initiated by SMEDA under PSDP had a significant importance in development of infrastructure for small and medium industries and business throughout the country. The projects include Gujranwala Business Center costing Rs.98.78 million, Agro-food Processing Plant, Multan costing Rs.135.19 million, Support Industries Development Center, Sialkot costing Rs.272.61 million, Women Business Incubation Center, Lahore costing Rs.31.22 million, Glass Product Design and Manufacturing Center, Hyderabad costing Rs.37.08 million, Revival Project of Cutlery Institute, Wazirabad costing Rs. 39.36 million, Chromites Beneficiation Plant, Baluchistan costing Rs.8.38 million, SME Subcontracting Exchange, Lahore and Gujranwala costing Rs.26.09 million, Women Business Incubation Center, Karachi costing Rs.34.03 million, Revival Project of

Hyderabad Leather Footwear Center costing Rs.35.01 million, Women Business Development Center, Peshawar costing Rs.28.41 million, Washing & Pressing Plant, Matta Mughal Khel, NWFP costing Rs.5.38 million, Sialkot Business and Commerce Center costing Rs.341.67 million, Foundry Service Center, Lahore costing Rs.179.4 million and Product Development Center for Composite Materials, Sialkot costing Rs.382.22 million, CEO SMEDA added. These projects are in various stages of implementation.

Mr. Shahid Rashid pointed out that policy environment before creation of SMEDA was very unfavorable for growth of SMEs, SMEDA has been striving hard to create a conducive environment for SMEs. The most significant success on this front came with approval of the first ever SME Policy of Pakistan last year. CEO SMEDA said, the Government Policies at times remain shelved for long and become redundant. To obviate this, an implementation plan and a monitoring mechanism was appended to the SME Policy, which rests on the creation of a National Committee on SMEs (NCSME) at Federal level and Provincial committees on SMEs (PCSME) at Provincial levels. He added that NCSME comprising members from both public and private sectors had been set up and its first meeting was held in August last year. PCSMEs in NWFP and Balochistan have been constituted and formation of PCSMEs in Punjab and Sindh is currently in process.

Mr. Shahid Rashid claimed that SMEDA had taken unique measures to promote e-business and introducing SMEs to new e-business techniques in Pakistan . He specially referred to the first ever B2B portal designed by SMEDA though its most popular internet based project; the Industrial Information Network (IIN) which is visited by 5000 visitors daily.

He further disclosed that SMEDA’s web portal www.smeda.org.pk   had so far been visited by 3,366,179 visitors from 189 countries round the world and marked 470,284 downloads of

Prefeasibility studies, 48,218 Sectoral Information, 40,234 Regulatory Procedures and 48,201 downloads of Business Guides.

Replying to a question regarding training programs, Mr. Shahid Rashid informed that SMEDA had trained 50,367 personnel in SME sector by organizing 971 training programs in the fields of Agriculture, Technology and Management.

Replying to another question, he said that Federal Governments’ special project; “Aik Hunar, Aik Nagar” was also being managed by SMEDA so far. The project, which was initiated to modernize rural crafts, had completed 46 pilot projects by imparting direct benefits to about 4000 non-farm rural SMEs.

Mr. Shahid Rashid, responding to a question regarding future target of SMEDA, said that his organization expected to enhance value addition of Rs.5159.73 million in SME sector over the next 10 years of its operation through its projects, while also strengthening its core role of facilitation and business development support for SMEs.

Liaqat Ali Gohar
Deputy General Manager
(Administration & Public Relations)