Development of Agribusiness Enterprises - Asian Productivity ...

promoting SMEs. In the provinces, the following organizations are involved in the
promotion of small- and medium-sized industries:
C The Punjab Small Industries Corporation
C The Sindh Small Industries Corporation
C The NWFP Small Industries Corporation
C The Directorate of Small Industries, Balochistan.
Technical/Vocational Training
The Ministry of Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis has established Skill
Development Councils to assess the training needs of each geographical area, set priorities
based on market demand, and facilitate the training of workers through training providers in
the public and private sectors. In addition, the Technical/Vocational Training System will
be modernized according to demands for new technology.
Small Business Finance Corporation
The Small Business Finance Corporation (SBFC), as a development financial
institution, has been providing credit facilities since 1984 to small-scale borrowers for small
and cottage industries. The initial lending operations of SBFC were later shifted towards
self-employment schemes. From 1986/1987, SBFC began providing loans for the education
of unemployed youth under the name of the Youth Investment Promotion Society. Between
July 1999 and March 2000, SBFC disbursed PRs.202.49 million for 492 cases, thus
generating employment for 1,476 persons. In addition, under the small-scale industries
category, PRs.3.28 million was also disbursed during the 1999/2000 financial year.
FUTURE PLANS FOR AGRIBUSINESS ENTERPRISES
In order to promote small- and medium-sized agribusinesses, SMEDA is planning to
develop a prototype of input supply companies, along the lines of support services for agricredit.
Commodity-based Value-added Chains
Through a more direct approach, SMEDA has set priorities for a few areas where it is
working on the development of completely new value-added chains for certain agricultural
products, by formulating strategies for:
(a) improving Lahore’s milk market;
(b) the production of beef specifically for export markets in collaboration with McDonalds
and the Livestock Department;
(c) boosting exports of mangoes and kinnoos; and
(d) vegetable production and the export of potatoes.
This approach is part of the introduction of value addition through processing
technology that is being introduced in Pakistan.
The Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) in Islamabad, which is under the
Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, has carried out a number of agribusiness
projects in collaboration with the private sector (Tables 1 and 2).
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