{"id":13325,"date":"2025-01-16T04:52:05","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T04:52:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=13325"},"modified":"2025-09-27T08:03:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T08:03:45","slug":"smes-can-contribute-up-to-60bn-in-exports-over-next-five-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=13325","title":{"rendered":"\u2018SMEs can contribute up to $60bn in exports over next five years\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Federal
Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiative Ahsan Iqbal addressing a press conference. \u2014 APP\/File<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday detailed a transformative economic roadmap under the Uraan Pakistan initiative aimed at increasing the country\u2019s exports to $60 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a media conference he chaired alongside State Bank Governor Jameel Ahmed and senior banking officials, Iqbal emphasised the critical role of commercial banks in achieving the target to boost the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUraan Pakistan is not just a programme; it\u2019s a vision for a progressive and prosperous Pakistan. To succeed we need collective action and innovation, with commercial banks playing a pivotal role in empowering SMEs [small and medium enterprises], supporting emerging industries and ensuring economic resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He highlighted that achieving six to eight per cent annual export growth requires diversifying beyond traditional textiles, and focusing on sectors such as IT, agriculture, mining, manpower export, the blue economy and cultural industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He pointed toward the significant potential of the country\u2019s SMEs, which, with the right support, can contribute $40 billion to $60 billion in exports over the next five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noting the missed opportunities over the decades, he expressed optimism for the future. \u201cPakistan has experienced three significant economic take-off attempts in the past, but each was derailed by wars, political instability or policy shifts. Uraan Pakistan is our chance to rewrite that history with a sustainable, forward-looking approach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also noted the government\u2019s focus on the five E\u2019s \u2014 e-Pakistan, environment, energy, equity and economy \u2014 as the pillars of the nation\u2019s development strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe financial sector is the backbone of our economy. Banks must double export credit disbursements, introduce risk mitigation tools, and adopt digital trade finance solutions to empower exporters and reduce transaction timelines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also acknowledged the challenges obstructing progress, including political instability, low literacy rates and rising energy costs. However, he expressed confidence in overcoming these obstacles through collaboration and policy reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPakistanis excel in every field, but collective effort remains our weakness. Uraan Pakistan is a call to unite, innovate and position Pakistan as a success story of rapid economic development.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Need for stability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday said political instability has marred the success of Pakistan. He was visiting the NED University of Engineering & Technology for the inauguration of the institute\u2019s high-performance technical sports facility, adds Salis bin Perwaiz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iqbal said that in 2018 a few top office-holders did not do justice to the country. When the current government took office, it was faced with a domestic default situation, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that despite the grave financial constraints, the government was able to find ways to reduce inflation, which has been brought down from 38 per cent to four per cent, and the policy rates of banks have decreased from 23 per cent to 13 per cent, while exports have seen a 30 per cent increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also said that all indicators are slowly and gradually improving and stabilising. This is Pakistan\u2019s fourth flight, an opportunity once again to use this moment to fully absolve ourselves of the past misdoings and miscalculations, and finally build a foundation for a nation that is bound to persevere in the future, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iqbal said the nation\u2019s self-esteem is at an all-time low, and due to its low self-esteem, the nation has been injected with hate and negativity, which in turn has become an impediment in its way of success. \u201cWe must break away from the shackles of self-hate and self-degradation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He urged everyone to come together and pledge to themselves that they would do better. He said the prime minister\u2019s Uraan Pakistan programme is based on the plan to forget the faults made in the past, and look towards the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He highlighted that Uraan Pakistan is a transformative initiative designed for the people, focusing on creating an export-oriented economy, fostering a youth-driven techno-economy, addressing climate resilience, enhancing water and food security, promoting green energy, and achieving equitable socioeconomic development by empowering youth and women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He emphasised that the government prioritises the people\u2019s agenda, and is committed to overcoming national challenges through policy reforms and strategic public expenditure. He said that real and true transformation takes place in laboratories and libraries of institutions. These are the nests through which futuristic ideas take birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also spoke about how Uraan Pakistan is now launched to help move the country as a techno economy. He said universities would be judged on seven indicators: instructional excellence, research & innovation, industry & academia, community work, the university\u2019s technology platform, corporate governance and the university\u2019s final product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These seven performance indicators will help us assess the universities, and then assist them in becoming part of the big leagues, a part of the top 100 universities of the world, he added. He urged everyone to come together and become part of Uraan Pakistan to ensure that we as a collective have left behind all differences and come together to assist the country in taking its flight into the future of success and unrelenting accession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier, the NED University\u2019s vice chancellor delivered a welcome note to welcome the federal minister and praise all the support they had received from him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained how the university has gone beyond the traditional laboratories, and incorporated data analytics, robotics and cybersecurity enabling institutions to be on a par with global academies owing to Iqbal\u2019s leadership and unwavering support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reference Link:- https:\/\/www.thenews.com.pk\/print\/1272713-smes-can-contribute-up-to-60bn-in-exports-over-next-five-years<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday detailed a transformative economic roadmap under the Uraan Pakistan initiative aimed at increasing the country\u2019s exports to $60 billion. During a media conference he chaired alongside State Bank Governor Jameel Ahmed and senior banking officials, Iqbal emphasised the critical role of commercial banks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[10407,132,10406,2267,36,2462,2997,10405,1765,60],"class_list":["post-13325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sample-category","tag-smes-can-contribute-up-to-60bn-in-exports-over-next-five-years","tag-economy","tag-efficiency","tag-exports","tag-pakistan","tag-potential","tag-productivity","tag-small-and-medium-enterprises","tag-smes","tag-geopolitics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13325"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13327,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13325\/revisions\/13327"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}