The federal government has decided to establish an SME Industrial Estate based on a land lease model to reduce the setup cost.
The Ministry of Industries and Production (MoIP) has directed the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) to work with the federal and provincial authorities to use government land to set up SME Industrial estates. According to ministry officials, the land lease model is most suitable because it reduces the setup costs for SMEs.
According to the MoIP officials, allocations for SMEs will be made in the existing industrial estates, Export Processing Zones (EPZ), and Special Economic Zones (SEZ) on land leased-based models. In the EPZs and SEZs, small plots are being offered to SMEs to introduce a cost-effective setup. The SMEDA will coordinate with the national and provincial bodies responsible for developing special economic zones under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and industrial estates to ensure adequate space allocation for SME businesses that are part of the supply chain.
A plan to provide off-grid electricity to rural and remote SMEs has been chalked out with the Power Division. The SMEDA will also work with the Power Division for the provision of innovative off-grid clean energy solutions and will coordinate with it to consider moving manufacturing SMEs from commercial electricity connections to industrial electricity connections, with access to lower tariffs for incremental consumption in line with the relevant provisions of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA).
