The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) held a consultative session with stakeholders of the Textile Garments Manufacturing sector to align the 2nd Phase of its “Industrial Stitching Units project with the Uraan Pakistan program of the government for boosting exports through SMEs. The session was presided over by Socrat Aman Rana, Chief Executive Officer of SMEDA and was attended by a number of the private sector stakeholders including the representatives from APTMA, PRGMEA and PHMA. The Ministry of Industries and Production representatives and the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives also attended the meeting through video link.
CEO SMEDA Socrat Aman Rana, while welcoming the participants, informed that the project titled as 1000 Industrial Stitching Units was approved by the government in 2018 to provide Matching Grants (60:40) in the cost of machines to new business startups as well as existing small & medium enterprises (SMEs) to establish industrial stitching units. The first phase of the project, building a success story, would be completed on June 30, 2025, and SMEDA was actively engaged in shaping up PC-1 for Phase-II in line with Uraan Pakistan’s objectives, he said, adding that in Phase-II, 350 units shall be established. In contrast, in Phase-1 the target was 150 units.
He further informed that under Phase-II of the project, 100% of grants will be disbursed to Export-oriented units, in contrast to Phase-I, which primarily catered to the domestic garment sector. The grant size for Phase II has also increased from Rs. 1.8 million to Rs. He added 5.0 million to support approximately 50 machines capable of handling export orders.
Project Director Muhammad Raza, while giving a presentation on this occasion, informed that under Phase-I, 150 units had been facilitated across the country: 76 in Punjab, 35 in Sindh, 17 in KP & Baluchistan, and 1 in GB. He also shared the impact assessment of 93 units established under Phase-I. He said that Phase-I of the project had a favorable impact on employment generation by creating 1208 new jobs and empowering women entrepreneurship, as 41% of the total beneficiaries were the stitching units owned by females.
The private sector participants acknowledged that the first phase of the SMEDA Industrial Stitching Units Project was highly beneficial for small and medium textile garment manufacturers. They appreciated the transparency of the grant sanctioning process and the technical support provided by SMEDA. They gave a number of viable suggestions for phase 11 of the project.
This is notable that Phase-II shall cater multiple textile export sectors i.e. Readymade Garments, Fashion Apparel, Hosiery Manufacturers, Knitwear, Bedsheets, Traditional Textiles Leather Garments, Denim Manufacturers, Gloves Manufacturers, Towel Manufacturers, Sports Goods, Canvas Manufacturers, unlike Phase-I, which was suitable mainly for Hosiery (Tee Shirts, Polo Shirts, Dress Shirts) and Basic Home Textile.
