Department for International Development (DFID), UK is supporting development of small and medium enterprise (SME) sector through Karandaaz Pakistan.
DFID Director General for Economic Development, Rachel Turner, joined signing of an agreement between CEO Karandaaz Pakistan, Mr. Ali Sarfraz and Head of Retail, Bank Alfalah, Mr. Khurram Hussain during his visit to Pakistan. Karandaaz Pakistan will provide a fixed grant of over PKR 63 million to Bank Alfalah Limited for Supply Chain Financing Advisory Services Under the agreement. Project will build the ability of bank to give credit to small and medium enterprises through exclusively trained teams using cutting-edge financial products.
Three business incubators, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management, and Invest2Innovate (Pvt.) Ltd. also signed agreements with Karandaaz to launch a nationwide programme for supporting women entrepreneurship by an endowment of PKR.25 million. Women-owned or operated businesses enrolled in the programme will be provided training & mentorship and up to six competitively selected businesses will be provided funding of PKR.15 million each for expanding their business.
“SMEs, especially women-owned businesses, can be a powerful energy for a sustainable growth economy. UK is proud to invest in vigorous sector in Pakistan and confident that it will have long-term shares for economy of Pakistan,” accentuated Rachel Turner, DFID Director General for Economic Development.
CEO Karandaaz, Ali Sarfraz clarified that Karandaaz is dedicated to breaking fences for small and medium entrepreneurs. The partnerships will display large range of strategic involvements so that SMEs can expand and sustain operations and access finance for business development”.
Head of Retail, Bank Alfalah, Mr. Khurram Hussain accredited the support from the DFID. He further said that corporation is large, not as a bank but for whole SME sector. Bank Alfalah the Pakistan’s ‘Best Bank’ and ‘Best Customer Franchise’, and this association is further indication of our promise to our customers and development of sector altogether.
Karandaaz Pakistan helps access to finance for small businesses by commercially focused investments and financial inclusion for entities. Karandaaz Pakistan has financial and institutional support from Department for International Development (DFID), UK and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.