Consultation To Design SME Strategy Held In Quetta

Faizan Hashmi Published May 20, 2022 | 01:18 PM

The Industries and Commerce department in collaboration with the International Trade Centre here on Friday held a multi stakeholder consultations in Quetta to design Balochistan's first ever Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME) Competitiveness Strategy

QUETTA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th May, 2022 ) :The Industries and Commerce department in collaboration with the International Trade Centre here on Friday held a multi stakeholder consultations in Quetta to design Balochistan's first ever Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME) Competitiveness Strategy.

More than 300 stakeholders from public and private sectors attended the consultative meeting covering both the north and south areas of the province.

Addressing the participants, Secretary Department of Industries and Commerce, Abdul Latif Kakar said that Balochistan SME Competitiveness Strategy would be instrumental for the promotion of businesses and economy in the province.

Secretary Planning and Development Abdullah Khan said, keeping in view the growing contributions of the SMEs to Balochistan's economy, there is no denying their essential contribution to domestic led growth, job creation and value creation. And yet, Balochistan's SMEs are deprived of necessary services that they need to grow such as finance and skills.

"We are grateful to the European Union and International Trade Centre for facilitating us in developing the SME Competitiveness Strategy that considers the context of Balochistan which vastly differs from the other provinces of Pakistan." CEO BBoIT, Mr. Saeed Ahmed Sarparah shared these views.

Quetta Chambers of Commerce President Fida Hussain Dashti said that ''An SME Strategy that is aligned with the local context of Balochistan is a necessity for improving the business environment for the SMEs of the province.

It may be mentioned here that the development of the provincial SME Competitiveness Strategy is supported by the Growth for Rural Advancement and Sustainable Progress (GRASP) project, an initiative funded by the European Union and implemented by ITC, working to uplift the business environment around SMEs in Sindh and Balochistan.