KARACHI, Nov 14: The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) has welcomed the formation of the much needed task force (TF) to prepare a comprehensive national strategy for uplift of the private sector, but expressed surprise at the non- inclusion of SME representatives on the task force.

Unisame President Zulfikar Thaver invited the attention of Salman Faruqui, deputy chairman of Planning Commission, who has constituted the task force on private sector development (PSD) towards non-inclusion of the SME sector which comprises 96 per cent of the private sector enterprises and is the back-bone of the economy.

He said that SMEs should be included in the agenda and encouraged to join the mainstream and given opportunities to set up industries, especially import substitution and export-oriented industries. He said that to make the economy buoyant the task force should commence uplift work from the grass-roots level.