KARACHI, Aug 27: The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) has urged the government to set up an SME promotion and development institution for the speedy up liftment of the sector.

In a communication addressed to Commerce Secretary Tasneem Noorani, Unisame President Zulfikar Thaver pointed out that their voice was being heard at all government levels but the same was not being implemented.

He said that Unisame, a member of the World Association of SMEs, was a forum voicing the grievances and requirements of small and medium sized enterprises, but it seemed that the government departments and agencies concerned were incapable to implement them.

Mr Thaver said their suggestions and problems were being appreciated at every level but not implemented due to reasons best known to them. Therefore, he suggested that the government should set up an SME promotion and development institution so that small and self-financed entrepreneurs could get their problems and issues resolved.

The main function of the institute, he said, would be to determine the number of small and medium enterprises, their location, and clusters, if any, or even find out about their trade bodies. Mr Thaver said it would assist the government in farming policy for the speedy development of this sector.

The proposed institutions, he said, could also work for the promotion and expansion of trade and business activities of the SMEs by holding exhibitions, seminars, doing collective marketing and imparting skills.

Similarly, the Unisame president said the institution could explore and assist in arranging funds for SMEs from banks, DFIs, foreign donors and other sources.

The theme behind the formation of the institution for the SMEs is that a small business man with little education background could walk in and feel comfortable for finding solution for his problems. This, he said, could only be possible with public and private sector partnership if growth in SMEs was to be seen.