Lahore: The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) and the Pakistan Microfinance Investment Company Limited (PMIC) have agreed to collaborate in a concerted effort to widen access to financial services for microenterprises across Pakistan. The joint initiative aims to bolster financial inclusion and provide support to underserved business sectors.
According to Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority, the agreement was reached during a meeting at SMEDA's Head Office, attended by top executives from both organizations. SMEDA's CEO, Nadia Jahangir Seth, led discussions alongside her team, including GM Gender and Sustainability Sheharyar Tahir and DGM Financial Services Farah Yasir. CEO PMIC Yasir Ashfaq was present with Chief Operating Officer Saqib Siddiqui and Head Corporate Finance and Investment Banking Bilal Abdul Razzaq.
Nadia Jahangir Seth outlined SMEDA's role in non-banking MSME development, which includes offering business development services and facilitating access to finance. She expressed that SMEDA, aligning with the Prime Minister's SME development vision, is crafting specific programmes with financial institutions to enhance finance opportunities for underserved sectors, notably women entrepreneurs and microenterprises. Seth stressed that the collaboration with PMIC could significantly advance microfinance solutions for MSMEs and called for a structured framework to operationalize this partnership.
Yasir Ashfaq of PMIC emphasized the company's commitment to expanding microfinance solutions, particularly in sectors like agriculture, education, climate resilience, and women-led enterprises. He noted the importance of a strong partnership with SMEDA to amplify microfinance outreach nationwide and suggested organizing a joint MSME conference on microfinancing to foster stakeholder dialogue.
SMEDA's GM Gender and Sustainability, Sheharyar Tahir, commented on the necessity of collaboration with microfinance institutions like PMIC to effectively address the financial needs of microenterprises. DGM Financial Services Farah Yasir added that SMEDA is promoting financial literacy among MSMEs through training programmes in collaboration with SME-focused trade bodies to enhance businesses' readiness to access formal finance.
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