The 9th Pakistan SME Forum 2015 organized
annually by SHAMROCK Conferences International (www.shamrockconferences.net)
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 & 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 & 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 90% are SMEs.
It employs 75% of the non-agricultural workforce and contributes 30% 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.
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