An awareness session on SME banking was organized by the SME division in collaboration with Islamabad Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) last week. The event aimed to brief the members of ICCI about Bank Alfalah’s SME products, introduce Non-Financial Advisory (NFA) and the SME Toolkit.
The session was attended by over 60 members of the ICCI. Members of the Islamabad Stock Exchange and owners of various businesses were also present. Mr. Sikander Karim highlighted the crucial role SMEs play in economic development and how the bank’s NFA Program helps support business growth. Mr. Yasir Butt presented details about the new and existing SME products designed to cater to SME needs across different business sectors. Whereas, Mr. Ali Nasir demonstrated the uses and benefits of the SME Toolkit (www.pakistan.smetoolkit.org)
In the closing remarks, Mr. Muzammil Hussain Sabri, President of ICCI stressed on the need for making financial assessable to SMEs as they contribute 35% to the GDP, generate 70% employment in non-agriculture sector but lending to SMEs was a mere 16%. MD of the Islamabad Stock Exchange, Mian Ayyaz Afzal present on the occasion highlighted ISE’s initiative to facilitate SMEs by helping them raise capital via the stock exchange. Mr. Alamgir Chaudhry, CEO of SMEDA also addressed the gathering and said that SMEs’ growth trajectory was encouraging however, restricted access to funds was an obstacle which needed to be overcome with help from financial institutions.
The session was highly interactive and everyone participated enthusiastically with questions, comments and suggestions. In addition, was also covered by a number of different media agencies. We also received prominence in the next Daily Times edition.