LAHORE – Business Support Fund (BSF) is all set to roll out the ‘Franchise Pakistan’ project, through which street smart young entrepreneurs will enjoy a change and will be able to set up their own enterprise. BSF envisions some 10,000 franchises by end of the current fiscal year. BSF Chief Executive Officer Syed Saquib Mohyuddin disclosed this in a meeting with Lahore Economic Journalists Association (LEJA) members here on Monday. Mohyuddin said that BSF was finalising legal framework for the Franchise Pakistan project, which would be completed by the end of March. Franchise Pakistan project would be formally launched in April, while food, beverages and cutlery industries have been selected for the first phase of the project.
Highlighting salient features of Franchise Pakistan, Mohyuddin pointed that, under this initiative, the BSF would provide matchmaking services to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and young entrepreneurs. He indicated that BSF would leave no stone unturned to ensure self-sustainability of these new franchises. “BSF will not only provide matchmaking facility but it will also offer business development services to these franchises. BSF will help these young entrepreneurs by offering them free experts help,” he underlined. Mohyuddin said that the BSF was negotiating with different banks to offer special banking products for these new franchises, as most of these young entrepreneurs did not have any bankable document or credit history.
He disclosed that, in addition to the Franchise Pakistan project, BSF had planned to launch BSF Smart Energy Programme, which would help small industries cut their energy cost by adopting innovative energy management solutions. Women Entrepreneur Development Programme (Southern Punjab) was another initiative, which would empower women entrepreneurs in rural areas by providing access to financial institutions and urban markets, he underlined. Explaining BSF’s role in economic development, Mohyuddin said that BSF was initially launched in 2002 under the SME Sector Development Programme, which was funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The donor had finished the programme in November 2009, which was later adopted by the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
He maintained that it was the only donor funded project in Pakistan possessing local ownership as there was dire need of business support services organisations in the country. “BSF is not taking any budget or financial support from the government. It generates revenue for meeting operational cost and development projects on its own. All BSF members believe that a business support organisation can help business if it exists on government support”, he said. Regarding SMEs, he stated that around 99 percent of businesses fall in the category of SME, which were generating 80 percent of the total jobs and were contributing 38 percent to the total GDP.
He said that 3.8 million SMEs were operating in Pakistan, out of which; 87 percent were running on sole proprietorship, 10 percent on partnerships and one to two percent were limited companies. BSF was targeting 87 percent of these SMEs, which are in real trouble due to non-availability of support services. He lamented that Pakistani SMEs were not globally competitive. He added that the concept of Business Development Support Provider (BDSP) was very successful in many countries, including Australia and Singapore.
