LAHORE, Aug 31: The final draft of the SME policy has been sent to the industries and production ministry for its circulation among the relevant ministries and provinces before forwarding it to the Federal Cabinet for approval and implementation.

The proposed policy seeks certain minor changes in tax, labour and other laws as well as in some rules and regulations.

The policy seeks to formulate a uniform definition of the SMEs and create linkages between the various support mechanisms in the country in order to facilitate their entry into formal sector.

The policy has been drafted by special Task Force constituted last year after consulting provinces, federal ministries, SMEs, chambers of commerce and industry, trade associations, etc.

Several issues are said to be responsible for retarding the development of SMEs as an internationally competitive sector.

These issues include absence of a uniform definition of SMEs, their inability to access reasonably priced bank credit and modern technology, unfriendly business and regulatory environment, and lack of marketing, accounting and management skills.

The policy gives a number of recommendations for improving business and regulatory environment for the SMEs, strengthening the role of chambers and associations representing the sector, improving their access to formal finance, updating their technology and building their capacities in areas like marketing, management and accounting.