LAHORE: The ninth Pakistan SME Forum 2015 organized annually by SHAMROCK Conferences International will be held on August 25, 2015 at the Pearl Continental Hotel, Lahore.
A number of issues now challenging the SME sector in Pakistan will be taken up for discussions for policy interventions. This year’s theme is “Fostering SME access to Finance & Innovative Technologies”.
Several key organizations such as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Commercial Banks, Small & Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), Business Support Fund (BSF) of the Ministry of Finance, Chambers of Commerce and Industry, IFC-World Bank and Union of Small & Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) will be participating in the forum which now serves as a bench mark to address issues and pressing needs of the SME sector in Pakistan.
Menin Rodrigues, Chairman, SHAMROCK Conferences International and Convener of the conference said, “The SME Conference is now an annual feature of our conferences program and plays an important role in highlighting the problems faced by the SME sector in Pakistan. There are 3.2 million economic establishments in the country of which more than 90percent are SMEs. It employs 75percent of the non-agricultural workforce and contributes 30percent towards the national GDP. The forum is open to all stakeholders to deliberate on matters that are important to support the life-line of Pakistan’s economy.”
Zulfikar Thaver, President, Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) in a press statement issued today, said “SMEs are the biggest stakeholders in Pakistan’s economy and need the best facilities of environment, finance, infrastructure, regular supply of energy and raw material,” he urged the government and policy makers to make the environment conducive and accelerate efforts to reduce the cost of doing business.
Eminent speakers and representatives of several sub-sectors of the SME sector in Pakistan will be deliberating on subjects that range from regulatory inconsistency, difficulties in SMEs access to finance, banking services, taxation, transportation of goods, power and energy issues, and security concerns. A special session on women entrepreneurs is also carded in the program.
