ISLAMABAD: PM Imran Khan Wednesday said the government had decided to take strict action against all those responsible for creating hurdles for any enterprise in export, agriculture, industry or service industry sectors.
Addressing the launching ceremony of National Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Policy, he regretted that in the past, no government had ever cared for extending incentives and facilities for the SME sector.
The incumbent government was according due importance to it as the biggest jobs giver sector and a huge source of wealth creation, he added.
The prime minister noted that SME growth in the country should be accelerated as another vital driver for GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth in the country.
Imran Khan noted that the banks were reluctant to extend credits to the SMEs and stressed upon removal of all impediments in the banking credits so that the people associated with the sector could start their businesses.
He said naturally the youth were capable of innovative ideas and startups. As they had idealism and adventurism, they could be encouraged with incentives and facilities.
With the passage of age, a person could not embark upon ventures, he added.
The prime minister said Pakistan had a population of 220 million and ranked as second in the world due to the youngest population bulge.
In the United States, revolution started from the Silicon Valley where they backed their 25-26 years old people who later became billionaires, he added.
The prime minister also underlined the need for the private sector to come forward and support the SMEs.
He expressed optimism that about $500 million investment was witnessed in the country’s startups.
Enumerating the issues confronted by the SMEs, he said the land price was expensive for setting up businesses, so the government would extend support in provision of land on lease.
Besides, the red tape was another big issue in the growth of SMEs, he added.
Moreover, the regulations also hampered the growth of SMEs, he said, expressing the resolve that the government would ease out all the regulations in the system and streamline it by taking advantage of information and technology.
During 1960’s, he said, the country was moving on path of rapid progress and people from Malaysia came here to study. “Pakistan was regarded as a model of progress in the whole region.
The country’s bureaucracy was acknowledged as the highly efficient,” he said, regretting that subsequently, ‘with wrong decisions, the country went down due to political interference, and unfortunately, they lost that path.’
The prime minister said Singapore with a population of five million had exports of about 40 billion dollars last year while Malaysia with 33 million population had about 25 billion dollars export.
Imran Khan maintained that the (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) government had faced huge challenges never been experienced by their predecessors.
First, he said, they inherited a bankrupt economy with depleting reserves and if the three friendly countries – the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and China had not helped them out, they would have defaulted.
When the country was out of the issue, the global Covid pandemic created problems, he added.
The prime minister said the coronavirus was a crisis of the century from which Pakistan was steered out due to the government’s successful policies.
The world-renowned journal the Economist, the WHO (World Health Organization)and WEF (World Economic Forum) had also acknowledged Pakistan as the only country in the world that saved its economy and the lives of its people, he added.
Imran Khan further elaborated that with the Afghan situation and global supply chain interruptions, they were confronted with other challenges.
He mentioned that prices of commodities rose world wide due to the global pandemic affecting all the countries.
But despite all that, he said, Pakistan recorded high exports, remittances and tax collection.
The prime minister said they had a target of Rs 8,000 billion tax collection and in the last three years, succeeded in reaching Rs 6,000 billion collection, and expressed the optimism that they would surpass the target.
He said they were introducing automation, trace and track system to net those who were evading sales taxes.
He regretted that in the country of 220 million people, only 2 million had been paying taxes.
The prime minister said the private sector also registered record credit offtake worth Rs1,400 billion.
Under the government’s farmers transformation plan, he said, the country achieved record yield in four major crops of wheat, sugarcane, rice and maze, besides a huge surge in the motorcycle and mobile phones sales.
The prime minister also referred to the recent wave of Omicron variant in the country and hinted that they would not go to shut down the economy, but advised the people to strictly observe the standard operating procedures (SOPs).
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