Governor Punjab Inaugurates 3rd SME Conference Organized by UMT and SMEDA
Tuesday, November 27 2018
The inaugural session of the 3rd SME Conference organized by UMT and SMEDA was held today. Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, Governor Punjab, was the chief guest. Dr Muhammad Aslam, Rector UMT, Dr Naveda Kitchlew, faculty members and students of the Dr Hasan Murad School of Management (HSM) at UMT attended the event. Speaking on the occasion, the Governor stated that development of SME sector is the top priority of government for creating employment and curbing poverty in the country. He acknowledged significance of SMEs and vowed to make Pakistan a “business friendly country” by devising conducive policies based upon solid research. He said that the Government had embarked upon an ambitious plan to boost the economy by making interventions in key areas of the economy importance with special focus on SMEs.
Sher Ayub, Chief Executive Officer of Smeda, presented the address of welcome on the occasion. The inaugural session was also addressed by Dr Muhammad Aslam, Rector of UMT, Charles Schneider, Senior Private Sector Specialist, International Finance Corporation (IMF), World Bank Group and Dr Sean K S Shin, Dean Global Education Institute, NAMSEOUL University, South Korea.
It is worth mentioning that SME conferences are being organized jointly by UMT and SMEDA since 2016. The 3rd SME Conference is an attempt to develop recommendations for policy makers, researchers and development practitioners to cope with the challenges of entrepreneurship development, sustainability and regional integration. Research papers, case studies, and successful development initiatives falling within the realm of entrepreneurship, regional integration, specifically opportunities emerging through CPEC, are being presented in the conference.