ISLAMABAD : Providing employment opportunities to youth, boosting exports and wealth production in the country are the government’s foremost priorities, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday.

Chairing a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), he stressed that the promotion of SMEs has a vital role to play in accomplishing targets set in the above-mentioned three priority areas.

“SMEs had been outright ignored over the past decade, which had an adverse impact on the country’s economy,” he lamented and called for all the federal departments and the provincial governments to pay special attention to the promotion of the SME sector.

The premier said the government is committed to providing all possible facilities to SMEs, including provision of credit, simplified tax system and ease of doing business.

A comprehensive National SME Policy 2020 that aims at promoting small and medium enterprises in the country was presented to the premier who got a detailed briefing on the nuts and bolts of the policy.

Prime Minister directed Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar to finalise a road map based on timelines in consulation with all provinces for implementation of the proposed SME policy at the earliest.

Besides Hammad Azhar, the PM’s adviser Ishrat Hussain, the federal secretaries, and other senior officials were in attendance in the meeting. State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Reza Baqir and the provincial chief secretaries also attended the meeting via video link.