LAHORE: Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Industries and Production Tasneem Ahmed Qureshi said that government was creating favourable business and industrial environment in country to restore confidence of local industrialists, traders and investors. In meeting with Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) he was briefed by SAMEDA Chief Executive Officer Hashim Raza about authority’s working, achievements and targets. Other senior SMEDA officers were also present. Tasneem Ahmed said, “We are trying to promote business-friendly culture in country with help of all institutions related to business development including SAMEDA, as government alone could not overcome serious problems like unemployment and poverty.”

He promised that incentives and facilities would be provided for investment, made by private sector to create employment opportunities especially through promotion of small and medium businesses. He said political stability was prerequisite to economic development, asserting that in today’s world, only those nations were truly free which have stabilised their respective economies and developed themselves on strong footing. He hoped that viable economic and business policies of government would help restore confidence of local businessmen and industrialists and they would start diverting their investment from real estate to industry and manufacturing sector.

He thanked prime minister for appointing him as his special assistant on proposal of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and entrusting him with the responsibility of industrial and commercial development. SAMEDA CEO Hashim Raza mentioned that SMEDA had identified 11 business sectors having fast growth, export and employment potential, which included information technology, tourism, horticulture, construction, fisheries, dairy and livestock, light engineering, minerals, leather, logistics and textiles. SMEDA under Public Sector Development Programme established 35 facilitation centres across country with total cost of Rs 8 billion. Multan Pulp Plant and Sialkot Sports Industry Project vastly been welcomed by stakeholders. At competition, he said, participants with unique and innovative project ideas would not only be awarded Rs 100,000 cash prize each but also provided with all necessary facilities for implementation of their projects.

Published in The Daily National Courier, November, 29 2022

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