Karachi: The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) has welcomed the decision of the government to allow export of wheat and urged the government to allow one-window operation rather than involving the provincial governments and making it a cumbersome procedure of payment of subsidy.
President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said the government has taken the correct decision to export surplus wheat to earn valuable much needed foreign exchange as the country has surplus stocks. This is indeed a wise decision as otherwise the stock get rotten as they are left in open yards, uncovered and exposed to sun and rain. Unfortunate there is no system to manage bumper crops or to manage poor crops seasons. It is a pity, he said.
Thaver appreciated the decision and urged the government to make it one window to facilitate the exporters and also ensure that the subsidy is given in good time and not block the investment of the exporters.
He said with the present cumbersome system of multiple windows it will be difficult in fact impossible for SMEs to export.
He urged the government to beware of tricky exporters to Afghanistan who will merely prepare documents for export but not export it as such.
Thaver said the SMEs are the backbone of the economy and the majority sector and need to be included in the export of wheat.
The Union has requested Faud Garib the chairman of the Wheat Exporters Association of Pakistan (WEAP) and the Wheat Traders Association to take up the matter with the government and urge them to allow one window operation and make the payment of the subsidy from one institution prompt and efficient.
The Union demands a level-playing field for all. The big exporters will manage to manoeuvre and manipulate but the SMEs need a simple procedure. However the one window facility will facilitate both the big and the SMEs.