KARACHI - The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) has felicitated Syed Mohibullah Shah on his appointment as the CEO of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and assured him full support of the SME sector in meeting the export targets. President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver, in a message to the CEO TDAP, said the authority as a matter of practice has always focused on the large sector and neglected the SME sector and this has disappointed the SMEs. He hoped the new CEO would give the priority to the SME sector keeping in view that under the prevailing economic circumstances it is the SME sector, which can contribute and play an important role in the accomplishment of targets. He said the SMEs are contributing to 40% of exports and are involved in textiles, rice, foodstuffs, leather, handicrafts, spices and general merchandise and with encouragement and support from TDAP can increase their exports substantially. He invited the attention of the CEO to the delay in the establishment of the SME Export House under the TDAP and expressed serious concern as the feasibility is ready and much work has been done by TDAP and funds have been earmarked from the export development funds available with TDAP. He pinpointed the advantages of the SME Export House (SME-EH) envisaged in the SME Policy 2007 approved by the government and said the SME-EH would enable the SMEs to export goods of international standards collectively and effect big shipments thus reducing the cost and making them competitive. Secondly the raw materials and packing materials can also be procured collectively at the proper time to control prices. Thirdly the SME -EH can also provide warehousing facilities at the port of shipment and destination to facilitate the SME shippers and the most important is the education to be imparted by the SME -EH to SME exporters on export documentation, obtaining the best freight rates, timely booking of space on vessels and knowledge about duties and levies in importing countries. The SME- EH would have in house pre-shipment inspection, quality control and product/packing improvement cells. UNISAME experts urged the CEO TDAP to establish the much-needed SME-EH on top priority basis for the benefit of the majority sector.