PM Shehbaz orders small and medium enterprises support strategy

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has asked the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority, known as Smeda, to draw up a detailed plan for funding small firms and entrepreneurs. Dawn reported that the goal is to build their capacity and widen their reach into overseas markets. The directive came on Wednesday during a meeting that Sharif chaired on the subject.

Sharif wants entrepreneurship promotion and equal facilities with uniform technical help nationwide ranked among Smeda's top institutional objectives. He also asked that the existing Smeda scheme encouraging women to take part in smaller enterprises be widened. He wants online channels deployed more fully so that homegrown business owners can connect with buyers at home and abroad.

The prime minister added that the strategy should reach regions and sectors to the widest extent possible. A separate instruction asked the authority to design measures for organising production and trade links for agricultural goods. He stressed that financial help, technical capacity building and provision of facilities deserve equal weight.