ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the government to double the financing available for small businesses to Rs2.2 trillion by 2028, up from the current target of Rs1.1 trillion, and called for a comprehensive strategy to facilitate access to business loans.
The directives were issued during a meeting chaired by the prime minister to review the role of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) in promoting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and empowering entrepreneurs across the country.
During the meeting, the prime minister emphasized the importance of small and medium-sized businesses in strengthening the national economy, describing the business community as the backbone of a country’s economic development.
He said Pakistan’s SME sector had enormous potential to drive economic growth, create employment opportunities and support entrepreneurship.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said reforms at SMEDA should focus on empowering small and medium-sized business owners and creating an environment in which entrepreneurs could establish and expand their businesses.
He also stressed the need to provide people in underdeveloped areas with greater opportunities to start businesses in different sectors, adding that economic empowerment in these regions could help reduce migration to major cities.
The prime minister directed the relevant authorities to formulate a comprehensive framework to make business financing more accessible and enable a greater number of people to benefit from loans for establishing enterprises.
He further called for greater public awareness of business opportunities and instructed officials to ensure that feasibility studies for setting up businesses were prepared with the assistance of sector-specific experts.
According to the prime minister, these measures would help promote entrepreneurship, strengthen economic activity and contribute to the development and prosperity of underdeveloped regions.
