by Shafqat Ali 

 

ISLAMABAD, October 22(Gwadar Pro)- Pakistani Federal Minister for Industries and Production Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar said on Thursday afternoon that massive job opportunities were in the offing under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision to create employment.

 

Chairing a virtual meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) here to finalize the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) policy, Bakhtyar showed optimism that the CPEC projects will provide jobs to hundreds of thousands of jobless Pakistanis.

 

In addition, he pledged to provide jobs to scores of others under government’s schemes and planning.

 

Prior to the NCC meeting, the Minister also held a virtual interactive session with representatives of micro-financing banks to discuss the policy framework of SME policy.

 

The purpose of the NCC meeting was to engage implementary agencies at federal as well as provincial level for lining up action plans for upcoming SME policy.

 

The meeting also discussed the progress on the national SME policy in purview of financial incentives, taxation systems and regulatory simplification for SMEs of the country.

 

In his remarks, the Minister said that the government would formulate SME policy in accordance with the Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision to promote cross-sectoral small and medium scale industries to generate employment and enhance the capacity of export-oriented enterprises of the country.

 

The forum was apprised that the government would ease credit facilities and services for SMEs. It was shared that a set of simplified laws would be promulgated in order to encourage SMEs' participation in public procurements. During the interaction, the framework of SME portal and issuance of SME cards was also discussed in detail.

 

In concluding remarks, the Minister reaffirmed that the Ministry of Industries and Production would formulate national SME policy with a detailed action plan to augment growth of SME across the country.

 

Finance Minister Punjab Makhdum Hashim Jawan Bakht, Secretary Industries and Production Jawwad Raffique Malik, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) Hashim Raza and other senior officials participated in the meeting.

 

This article originally appeared on Gwadar Pro.