March 30, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 21, 1429

KARACHI, March 29: Leaders of small and medium enterprises have urged the government to immediately implement the SME policy and also activate allied bodies to facilitate their growth, badly needed at a time when large scale manufacturing sector is shy about coming forward.

Without giving due priority to SME sector, these leaders are of firm view that there could be no economic growth and employment generation, particularly when country’s largest industrial sector, textile, was passing through a critical period.Union of Small and Medium Enterprises President Zulfikar Thaver said that the announcement on Saturday by the prime minister of raising minimum wages from Rs4,600 to Rs6,000 was a welcome move and would help improve the buying power of the lower income group.

He said that presently high cost of living and rapidly rising prices of essential commodities have crippled every household and people are unable to even meet their bare minimum necessities of life.

Mr Thaver suggested to the elected government to give tax exemption to lower income group, and income tax exemption slab be increased to Rs300,000 from Rs150,000 per annum. This would not only provide relief to the salaried class, but would also benefit many SMEs, he added.

Small and Medium Enterprises Association President Zafar Iqbal said that deep-rooted problems confronting the economy could only be resolved by a popularly elected government which can take bold and pragmatic decisions in the larger interest of the country.

Without giving priority to the SME sector, real growth could not be achieved, and it was the SME sector which dominates business organisations and generates employment in advanced economies and works as a backbone of economy.

The SMEs constitute 96 per cent of the total industrial sector and contribute around 40 per cent to the GDP and employ around 80 per cent of industrial workforce, he maintained.

It was the only sector which works smoothly even in depressed economic conditions, Zafar Iqbal said, and added that SMEs could kick start the economy which is presently sagging down.