The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority and the Sindh Enterprise Development Fund have agreed to strengthen collaboration aimed at improving access to finance for micro, small and medium enterprises across Pakistan, aligning the effort with the government’s broader economic development agenda around entrepreneurship and sustainable business growth. The understanding was reached during a meeting between senior officials of the two organisations held at SMEDA’s office in Lahore, with the SMEDA delegation led by Chief Executive Officer Nadia Jahangir Seth and the SEDF delegation headed by Chief Executive Officer Khizar Pervaiz.
Speaking at the meeting, Nadia Jahangir Seth said improving access to finance remains one of SMEDA’s key strategic priorities under the business plan prepared on the directions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and being implemented under the supervision of Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Haroon Akhtar Khan. She said the Authority is introducing practical measures to improve the bankability of MSMEs by promoting financial literacy, business formalisation and advisory services, with the aim of helping entrepreneurs secure financing from formal financial institutions rather than relying on informal channels. She also highlighted SMEDA’s upcoming SME Financing Helpdesks, which are intended to provide guidance on loan preparedness, financial management and access to credit for businesses across the country.
Nadia Jahangir Seth added that collaboration with institutions such as SEDF would help extend these services to a larger number of enterprises and create greater opportunities for business growth and employment generation. Khizar Pervaiz, in turn, said SEDF provides technical and financial assistance to small and medium enterprises, including women led businesses, in addition to facilitating access to industrial land on subsidised terms. He expressed SEDF’s commitment to working closely with SMEDA to support the government’s broader efforts to expand financial inclusion for the MSME sector, and shared the organisation’s intention to explore replicating Punjab’s Asaan Karobar Scheme in Sindh, while welcoming cooperation with SMEDA on the proposed SME Financing Helpdesks.
During the meeting, SMEDA officials briefed the SEDF delegation on a range of initiatives already underway to promote financial inclusion, including lending studies, financial literacy programmes, identification of financing gaps, the SME Registration Portal and the planned SME Financing Helpdesks. The two organisations agreed to collaborate on information sharing, financial literacy, capacity building and other joint initiatives designed to strengthen the enabling environment for MSMEs and improve their access to formal financial services across the country, with both sides framing the agreement as an early step toward a more coordinated approach to MSME financing between federal and provincial institutions.
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