ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday directed the relevant institutions to expedite measures for providing loans to small and medium enterprises on easy terms through banks and other financial institutions.

Chairing a meeting, the premier commended Special Assistant Haroon Akhtar and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority’s (Smeda) newly elected board of directors for formulating a practical and effective plan.

“SMEs are the backbone of the country’s economy,” Mr Shehbaz said, adding that there is immense potential to increase the country’s exports through the development of small and medium enterprises.

A three-year roadmap for the promotion of SME sector was presented in the meeting besides a detailed briefing on the problems faced by SMEs and the plan of action to address them, the strategy to include SMEs in the country’s exports, and other measures included in the business plan. A briefing was also given on ongoing measures to further enhance the existing cooperation with various countries to introduce Pakistan’s SME sector on a competitive basis in the global market.

The meeting was briefed on enhancing the capacity of domestic SMEs, multiple workshops have recently been organised in six cities.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2026