Lahore, November 29, 2018 (PPI-OT): The 3rd SME Conference organized by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) concluded here the other day having 12 research papers on various aspects of the five thematic areas; “ SME Policy Framework”, “Entrepreneurship Ecosystem”, “Industry Innovation and Infrastructure”, “Opportunities for SMEs in CPEC” and Regional Integration under China Pakistan Economic Corridor”. The Concluding session was addressed by Mr. Sher Ayub Khan, CEO SMEDA, Mr. Rehmatullah Javed, Chairman Central Standing Committee on SMEs, FPCCI, Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry, Rector, Lahore School of Economics and Dr. Naveda Kitchlew, Dean, School of Business and Economics, UMT.
CEO SMEDA, in his concluding remarks, said that the conference had provided a united platform to stakeholders of SME sector including researchers, SMEs and international development agencies to share their experience for SME development in the country. He informed that over 46 research papers from various national and international universities were received, out of which only 12 were selected for presentation in the conference. “This is a reflection of the high standard that conference maintain, he said adding that the useful insights gained through this research on the five thematic areas of the conference would help derive need based policy recommendations for the government.
“As we continue to pursue our research agenda, we can look at a vast range of opportunities to build a future economy based upon strengths of our resources, backed by academic research and practical experiences emerged in the conference, he added. He acknowledged that delegates from Korea, China, Bulgaria, and Finland had generously shared their successful experience regarding SME development in their economies, whereas, high quality academic research papers from UK, and Australia had also been helpful in learning the international experience on SME development. He was confident that next year, as this platform gains momentum, SMEDA will see a greater participation from international universities as well as more scholarly papers from national universities.
Mr. Sher Ayub Khan expressed deep gratitude to the international participants from China japan, South Korea, Ireland, Bulgaria and also to the speakers from across 30 public and private sector organizations. Speakers of the concluding sessions unanimously emphasized upon the role of academia in development of business and industry in Pakistan and hoped that the platform set by SMEDA under the SME conference would pave way for deriving SME friendly policies.
For more information, contact:
DGM (Admin. and PR)
Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA)
4th Floor, Building No.3, Aiwan-e-Iqbal Complex,
Egerton Road, Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-111-111-456
Fax: +92-42-36304926-7
Email: aligohar@smeda.org.pk, helpdesk@smeda.org.pk
Website: www.smeda.org.pk