Talks on promotion of entrepreneurial culture organised

PESHAWAR: Centre for Governance & Public Accountability in collaboration with Small & Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) arranged a public-private dialogue (PPD) on Monday.

The event was aimed at discussing the promotion of entrepreneurial culture in Peshawar, said a press release.Entrepreneurs from various trades, members of Sarhad Chamber of Commerce, Women Chamber of Commerce, officials TEVTA, SIDB, SMEDA and academia participated in the consultative session.

The participants said that small & medium enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of any economy and in most of the countries, a substantial part of GDP comes from the SME sector and so is the case of Pakistan too.

As per the estimates of SMEDA, quoted by State Bank of Pakistan (March 21st - 2022), there are more than 5 million SMEs in Pakistan.They contribute 40% in GDP and 25% in overall exports.This sector contributes to 78 % of non-agriculture sector employment.

They also identified SMEs as main source to reduce poverty, expand national economy and job creation.However, to boost this sector certain regulations or interventions are still required, for which this session was arranged.

The participants also discussed the role of government academia and financial support for SME sector, linkages of development, entrepreneurship as subject in Education, establishment of provincial advisory cell and home-based industries.

The business community pointed out hurdles in registering and conducting business, documentation required for business registration.Addressing the participants, Professor Romy Sajjad stressed on the triple helical model (Government, Academia & Industry) which is being followed in the modernized world today to strengthen SME’s growth.

In Pakistan there is a huge gap between the three.The Provincial Chief, SMEDA Rashid Aman highlighted the importance of establishing an advisory cell at provincial level to take all the stakeholders on board and develop a framework for creating conducive environment of business.

He also pointed out that entrepreneurship should be included as a subject from 6th class.Officials from Small Industries Development Board (SIDB) and TEVTA also highlighted the role of their organization in facilitating business community.The next session of this series of Public Private Dialogue will be focused on industrial infrastructure in Peshawar.