LAHORE: The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) has made a strategy to promote SMEs in Gilgit-Balitstan.
A business and culture festival would be held in this regard by mid of the next month.
Chairing a meeting here on Friday, SMEDA Chief Executive Officer Hashim Raza said here the government was keen to curb poverty and unemployment through growth of SMEs, and SMEDA, as per direction of the federal Ministry of Industries and Production, was paying special attention to equal growth of SMEs in all regions of the country.
He said that most of the existing SMEs in Gilgit-Baltistan were associated with tourism sector dealing in processed food, beverage, handicrafts, transport, hospitality and other tourism related services, which lacked in standardized and quality packaging and innovation.
He was confidant that SMEDA interventions in the province would help add value, quality standards and product development on modern pattern. He said that current SME policy had a lot of incentives for the SMEs in the Gilgit-Baltistan and hoped the SMEs business, under the SMEDA strategy, would be able to reach out also to the upper Hunza areas like Gojal.
The SMEDA CEO thanked the Ministry of Industries and Production for supporting SMEDA’s action plan to promote SME sector in Gilgit-Baltistan and informed that Gilgit-Baltistan Government, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation, Hunza Chamber of Small Traders and Small Industries and Tourism Department of Gilgit Baltistan were equally partnered with SMEDA in arranging the Business and Cultural Festival of Gilgit Baltistan to be held in mid of next month.