Lahore: FATA Economic Revitalization Program (FERP), implemented by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) in collaboration with UNDP, has finalized its recommendations, which have been delivered to the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for implementation.
Addressing a meeting on Monday, Chief Executive Officer of SMEDA Hashim Raza said that the program was conceived by UNDP and funded by USAID for economic development of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The recommendations prepared under the program have proposed various viable initiatives for revival of the businesses in the “Newly Merged Districts” (NMDs) former erstwhile FATA, he said adding that the Economic Cooperation and Development Forum (ECDF), in its first session held last year, had identified six thematic areas including regulatory reforms, marketing and communication, entrepreneurship, investment and innovation, banking and finance, skills development and job placement, economic infrastructure and five key prioritized sectors including women entrepreneurship, mines & minerals, agri businesses, transport, trade and services and light engineering.
The final document prepared by the forum has highlighted key interventions required for economic uplift and social development in the NMDs. The stakeholders were confident that proposed interventions will assist in accelerating economic growth and paving way for overall development of the region, he said and observed that the proposed interventions aim to identify and address the key challenges which are hampering economic growth and private investment in NMDs.
The recommendations forwarded by the forum, earlier, were vetted by various stakeholders, marking the proposed interventions practical rather inevitable for economic prosperity of the region, CEO SMEDA added.
It is notable that final draft of the recommendations was handed over by CEO SMEDA to the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mehmood Khan the other day at a ceremony held in the Chief Minister house.
