The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) in collaboration with the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday organized an awareness seminar on “Financial Literacy, Savings & Investment”.
The event was attended by a large number of the business community members, said a press release.
Addressing the seminar, ICCI President Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari called for reviewing policy interest rate as it would evenually promote the SME (Small & Medium Enterprises) sector.
Due to high policy interest rate, the SMEs were unable to get loans from banks for business development, he added.
Bakhtawari said that everyone including the business community needed to play a role to get the country out of the current economic crisis.
He encouraged the business community to invest in the stock market to generate funds for business expansion. He further demanded that the PSX should come up with attractive packages for the SME sector to raise capital from the stock market.
Sarman Hussain, Regional Head (Central & North), Pakistan Stock Exchange said that the stock market provided a better option for businesses to raise funds for development.
The SMEs would not only be able raise capital by selling their shares in the stock market, but it would also promote good governance for them, he added.
He said that family businesses in Pakistan were declining rather than flourishing as “only 12% of family businesses go to the third generation”.
He said that family businesses should focus on diversification instead of depending on one business line.
Zahid Latif Khan, CEO of Zahid Latif Khan Securities Private Limited, said that investing in the stock market was very profitable.
