The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) is to set up a centre within the Bureau for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to develop and promote SME exporters.
Chairman EPB Tariq Ikram announced the move while addressing the first meeting of SMEs at the Bureau, which discussed problems and issues faced by the SME sector in the country.
“The SMEs will be converted into new exporters with the help of training in export techniques,” he said. According to Ikram, the Bureau would make a major effort to promote SME culture in the country to boost exports. He invited SME representative bodies to work with the EPB for the promotion of this sector.
The president of the union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) Zulfikar Thaver highlighted the problems facing the SME sector and said that the number one problem was the rising freight rates by shipping lines.
Thaver urged EPB to educate SMEs on WTO issues and marketing techniques.
