Acting Pakistani Consul General, Sardar Muhammad, inaugurated the Pakistan Pavilion at the 18th China International Small and Medium Enterprises Fair on June 26. He also represented Pakistan at the opening ceremony of the Fair and the 2nd SME International Cooperation Summit main forum, both held in Guangzhou. Tslking to China Economic Net (CEN), Sardar revealed that Pakistan has been allocated a significant area at the Fair where eight Pakistani companies are showcasing a variety of products including jewelry, handicrafts, and food items. The Consul General and He Bing, the Deputy Director General of the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Guangdong, toured all the stalls and praised the exhibitors for their impressive display of Pakistani products. “We highly appreciate the People’s Government of Guangdong Province and others involved in organizing CISMEF for providing this great platform for SME promotion, which is the real engine of global inclusive sustainable economic development,” he stated. Sardar noted that CISMEF offers valuable opportunities for SMEs, both from China and globally, to learn from each other and strengthen exchanges and cooperation. He is confident the Fair will meet its set objectives. “As per the 2022 estimates from the Small & Medium Enterprise Development Authority (SMEDA), there are over five million SMEs in Pakistan. They contribute 40% to Pakistan’s GDP and account for 25% of overall exports. After agriculture, the SME sector employs the highest percentage of the working population in the country,” he pointed out. He emphasized that SMEs play a crucial role in shaping national growth strategies, generating employment, and fostering social cohesion by improving the standard of living for vulnerable segments of society. He acknowledged that Pakistan’s SME sector is still developing and has much to learn from China’s mature and well-developed SME sector. “There has been cooperation in many areas between the SMEs of China and Pakistan, but there’s much more that can be achieved together. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) provides a tremendous opportunity for SMEs to develop and grow. There’s ample scope for joint ventures between Pakistani and Chinese SMEs, especially in the fields of logistics, trucking, training, warehousing, fisheries, horticulture, minerals, food processing, construction, dairy and livestock, ICT and related services, light engineering, apparel, and cold storage and supply chain businesses,” the Consul General added.