Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) to formulate a comprehensive strategy to provide financial support, technical assistance and better market access to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and businesses across the country, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.

According to the PMO, the prime minister issued the directives while chairing a meeting in Islamabad to review SMEDA’s initiatives for supporting SMEs and business owners. He called for equal facilities and technical support to be provided to businesses across the country.

The prime minister directed SMEDA to expand its ongoing programmes aimed at increasing women’s participation in SMEs and businesses and to make more effective use of digital platforms to help local businesses access national and international markets.

He also called for more regions and sectors to be included in SMEDA’s business promotion strategy and directed the authority to develop a strategy to strengthen production and commercial links for agricultural commodities.

The prime minister stressed that equal attention should be given to financial assistance, strengthening the technical capacity of businesses and providing them with the necessary facilities.

The meeting was informed that SMEDA was taking measures at various levels to strengthen SMEs and support business owners. The authority was also working to increase exports linked to small businesses and improve their access to international markets by adopting global best practices.

The briefing said SMEDA was working with relevant institutions to develop an integrated and comprehensive strategy.

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Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, National Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Commerce Minister Jam Kamal, Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Khan Cheema, Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Commerce Haroon Akhtar, Prime Minister’s Youth Programme Chairman Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan and officials from relevant government institutions attended the meeting.

The latest directives build on measures announced in July to improve SMEs’ access to financing. On July 7, the prime minister had directed SMEDA to work with the State Bank of Pakistan and commercial banks on a strategy to expand credit access, including dedicated lending products for SMEs.

He had also called for easier financing for farmers seeking to establish agricultural and fruit-processing facilities and assistance for SMEs in preparing feasibility studies and meeting loan requirements.

SMEDA had further been directed to support young entrepreneurs, including women, while 700 Pakistani SMEs were set to participate in 16 international events to expand their access to global markets.