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| Sunday, 17 February 2002 |
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Pakistan to receive 800,000 dollars from ADB for enterprise development ISLAMABAD, Feb 16 (AFP) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced an 800,000-dollar grant to help Pakistan's small and medium enterprises spur growth and employment amongst the country's poor. The grant is aimed at boosting the potential of small and medium enterprises to spur growth, create employment and reduce poverty, the ADB said in a statement issued late Friday. ADB country director for Pakistan Ali Shah said small and medium enterprises contribute more than 30 percent to Pakistan's gross domestic product (GDP) and account for more than 80 percent of the country's employment. "Yet this potential in the past has not been fully realised, and small and medium enterprises' business activities are constrained by a number of factors relating to their operating environment," Shah said. One of the constraints was the preference of small and medium businesses to operate in the "undocumented economy", in which they were not registered and could avoid paying tax and other fees. Others were a costly and risky complex web of administrative processes, outdated business legislation that was open to abuse by authorities and the low level of managerial and labor skills. The grants would be funnelled through a sector development program, slated for 2003, aimed at outlining and preparing key policy and institutional reforms, and developing business and financial service channels and products, the ADB statement said. |
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