Pakistan’s SME Sector Holds $40-$60 Billion Export Potential: Minister

Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday said that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) had the potential of $40-60 billion in exports in the next 3 to 5 years.   Speaking at the ‘Export-led Economy – Race to $100 billion’ ceremony, along with Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan, he said that the government would facilitate the SME sector to achieve this potential target.    The minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to significantly increasing exports, setting an ambitious target of $100 billion within eight years. He stressed that achieving this target within eight years would be beneficial but missing it would pose significant challenges.   The minister emphasized the need to enhance production and leverage key sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and information technology, mining, manpower, and creative industries to drive growth. To increase the exports, the government would collaborate with the relevant departments/ministries to develop a dashboard, outlining a clear roadmap for growth in these sectors, he added.   He said that 70 out of 500 companies on the Karachi Stock Exchange generated exports of around $10,000, and big KSE companies earned billions in profit without contributing to dollar exports. To address this, he suggested working on policies and incentives to encourage the private sector to contribute to the country’s exports.    Jam Kamal Khan attributed Pakistan’s export decline to various factors, including high interest rates, production costs, COVID-19, and the Ukraine conflict. However, he highlighted that the government had formulated a strategy to increase the country’s exports.    He said that inflation and interest rates had come down consistently while global investors were interested in investing in Pakistan.