SAFWCO celibrates International SME Day and signings agreement to provide Rs 9 crore assistance to SMEs under GRASP project

Hyderabad: SAFWCO celebrated International Small and Medium Enterprises Day, on this occasion agreements were also signed to provide assistance of Rs 9 crore under the Growth for Rural Advancement and Sustainable Progress (GRASP) project.

At a function held at SAFWCO head office, among the small and medium Entrepreneurs, Najmuddin Qureshi of Al Noor Cold Storage, Saeed Khan of Saeed Khan Enterprises, Mohsin Karim of Bio Energy Solutions, Nasrullah Khan of HN Foods signed agreements for assistance of Rs 2 crore each and Afifa Khalid signed agreements for assistance of Rs 1 crore, while Dr. Suleman G Abro signed on behalf of SAFWCO.

Addressing the ceremony, SAFWCO Founder and Executive Director Dr. Suleman G. Abro said that progress is achieved through consistency. The main objective of the Grasp Project is to facilitate the livelihood of people associated with agriculture and include them in the stream of prosperity.

He said that the agriculture sector is playing the role of the backbone, but despite this, agriculture has not been given the status of an industry till date, due to which we are facing many problems. Importing cotton, sugar, oil, cloth and other things from abroad will meet the needs but will not be able to develop the local people. If this trend continues, Pakistan will not be able to join the development stream.

He said that the federal government established the organization of SMEDA in 1998, 5.2 million people are associated with it who are doing small businesses and they are contributing 40 percent to Pakistan's GDP and 25 percent of exports are due to this SMEDA. But to do more work, the GRASP project has been started, because vegetables and fruits spoil due to excessive rotting, the prices of fruits and vegetables increase due to shortages, which become out of reach of the poor. Therefore, we decided to provide support to people involved in agriculture so that they can increase the production of fruits and vegetables and adopt modern methods to protect them from spoilage.

Dr. Suleman G. Abro said that last time we had given a grant of Rs. 98 million to people with the support of PPAF, ICT, European Union and Sindh government. These people also invested their own money and expanded their businesses. Similarly, we gave Rs. 30 million to Perfect Foods, which has set up a fruit and vegetable drying plant and supplies it all over the world. We also provided assistance to 'RMC' to preserve bananas and 'KTC' to preserve mango pulp. With these measures, the loss of fruits and vegetables, which was 35 to 40 percent, will now be reduced and export trade will also increase. Similarly, we have also connected these people with the banks so that they can get loans when needed and their businesses can flourish.

After this, Syed Sajjad Ali Shah, Managing Director of SAFWCO Microfinance Company, said that there are many opportunities and many challenges to do business in Pakistan. If these challenges are met, they will turn into opportunities. Earlier our company used to lend up to Rs. 5 lakh, now it can lend up to Rs. 3 million.

He said that we have 68 branches in all the districts of Sindh. We provide financial training to entrepreneurs, insure businesses, crops and livestock, and also provide financial services on Islamic principles.

Project Manager Mustafa Rajpar said that under the GRASP project, SAFWCO has mobilized small and medium entrepreneurs in Hyderabad and Karachi and has formed small groups called ‘Farmer Climate Business School’ for those who are willing to acquire resources, awareness and skills to do business. By including small farmers, traders and agents in these groups, they have also been made aware about environment, modern agriculture, increasing production, reducing post-production losses and better business practices.

On this occasion, the chief guest Ahmed Idrees Chohan, Senior Vice President of Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce, the chief guest Shahida Talpur, President of Women Chamber of Commerce, Mir Abdul Karim Talpur, Spokesperson of Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, social leaders Shakoor Mallah and Adnan Memon also spoke and praised the services of SAFWCO in alleviating poverty, promoting agribusiness and playing an important role in the development of the country's economy. Finally, Zeeshan Memon, Deputy Executive Director of SAFWCO, thanked the participants of the event.