The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) and the Pakistan Microfinance Network (PMN) have pledged to collaborate to enhance financial facilities for micro-enterprises in the country. Mr. Socrat Aman Rana, Chief Executive Officer of SMEDA, and Syed Mohsin Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer of PMN, held a meeting today at SMEDA’s head office in association with their experts’ teams to identify the major areas of cooperation.
The meeting explored potential collaboration opportunities to develop a deeper understanding of the micro-enterprises landscape, with a focus on addressing their financial literacy needs and facilitating access to finance through data sharing between the two organizations.
Welcoming the guests, CEO SMEDA Socrat Aman Rana said, “We greatly value PMN’s role in advancing financial inclusion in Pakistan, and we see substantial alignment in our shared mission for supporting the underserved micro-enterprises. We look forward to exploring how a symbiotic relationship built upon each other’s strengths can be established to create a meaningful impact on the sector.” He said MSMEs play a key role in Pakistan’s economy by contributing 40 percent to GDP, creating 78 percent of non-agriculture employment, and generating 25 percent of exports.
“There are around 7 million small and medium economic establishments in the country, and 95% of businesses employ fewer than 10 people. In addition, 28 percent of households are engaged in some home-based economic activity,” he said, and informed that Pakistan had over 11 million active loan borrowers with an average loan size of Rs55,000, which shows a vast scale of micro-enterprise activity in the country. He underscored the need to uplift the microfinance sector, especially for small farmers, agriculture, and livestock.
CEO PMN Syed Mohsin Ahmed emphasized the importance of collaborative efforts in improving microfinancing in the country, as micro-enterprises can grow into small enterprises with collaborative support in providing finance and business development services. “We look forward to joining hands with SMEDA and hope that together we will make a meaningful impact on the micro-enterprise sector by improving access to finance and other services,” he added.#
