UNISAME URGES PCSIR TO REVIVE AND BE PROACTIVE

The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) has urged the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) to revive and play a proactive role in import substitution, innovation and modernization on war footings.

President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said the SME sector expects PCSIR to accept the challenge and roll up its sleeves and become proactive and revive and revive itself.

He said the country needs PCSIR to play a leading role in import substitution, innovation and modernization of SME sector to enable it to meet domestic and global challenges.

The Union Council emphasized that import substitution industries are crucial in different segments most importantly, chemicals covering textiles, agriculture, pharmaceutical, foodstuffs.

In engineering for SME units and electronics for multiple purposes for factories, farming, energy, safety and security and crime control and various other purposes.

The SME experts are very eager to see an invigorated PCSIR to immediately look into the list of imported items in auto parts, machine parts, insecticides, pesticides, fumigation chemicals.

There is vast scope in pharmaceuticals also as many manufacturers have closed their units due to increasing cost of imported raw materials, These raw materials need to be produced in Pakistan to save valuable foreign exchange and remove dependency.

PCSIR can resort to reverse engineering, artificial intelligence, collaboration, joint ventures and whatever is possible but actively get involved and engaged in efforts to make the industrial sector self sufficient and progressive on fast track.

UNISAME team has offered a helping hand to PCSIR and other stakeholders namely SMEDA, Engineering Development Board (EDB), Board of Investment (BoI), trade associations and chambers of commerce who are willing to come forward to promote the declared agenda.