Over 84 percent of Pakistan’s workforce operates informally within SMEs and home-based working sector, which creates obstacles for businesses and workers alike, hindering access to critical markets, financing, social protections, and skill development.
Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) Chief Executive Officer Socrat Aman Rana stated this while addressing a workshop jointly arranged by SMEDA and ILO for inception of the Enterprise formalization Project.
The workshop was also addressed by Guillermo Montt, ILO CO for Pakistan, Shusuke Oyobe – Technical Specialist, Formalization (Geneva), Ms. Rabia Razzaque, Senior Programme Officer ILO CO Pakistan, Ms. Nadia Jahangir Seth, General Manage Policy and Planning, SMEDA and Sheharyar Tahir, Head External Relations Department, SMEDA, according to SMEDA spokesman here Friday.
SMEDA Chief highlighted key features and objectives of the project declaring the Enterprise Formalization Project, a pivotal step forward in shaping the future of Pakistan’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for strengthening the national economy.
He informed that the collaboration of MoIP with the ILO for Enterprise Formalization Project is an outcome of an earlier mapping study by ILO and SMEDA. This project aims to bridge gaps in formalization and ensure that our SMEs can thrive within a formal, supportive economic framework, he said, adding that the project aligns with the MoIP’s vision to create a modern, sustainable, and inclusive economy, one that builds upon Pakistan’s SME Policy 2021, the ILO Decent Work Country Programme for Pakistan (2023–27) (DWCP IV), and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework.—APP
