KARACHI, Oct 6: The small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can bail out the country from the present economic crisis as the large scale manufacturing sector has not been vibrant.

The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises president Zulfiqar Thaver in a letter to the minister of production, industries and special initiatives said that it was important that the government formulate plans to develop the SME sector from grass-root level.

He suggested that the government should focus on upgrading agro-based industries and bring the farmers under the fold of Smeda (Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority) and help them achieve higher productivity.

He said that the Unisame proposed several steps for the revival of the sagging economy by developing banking, leasing, insurance and logistics sectors.

He pointed out that since the bank officials were not trained in SME financing, the Leasing Association of Pakistan should be directed to introduce commercial property leasing for the SMEs.—APP