Peshawar: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Pakistan’s Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) has signed a letter of agreement for the formation of the ‘Economic Cooperation and Development Forum’ in the merged districts, according to the news sources.
The objective of this forum is to encourage collaboration between various institutions to come up with new ways to bring investment in the tribal districts from private businesses and financial institutions. The purpose is to assist private investors by acting as a platform to explore sustainable growth avenues for the tribal districts.
SMEDA has been roped in to evaluate the business development plans of 4,350 entrepreneurs from the merged tribes. The entrepreneurs will receive in-kind grants for establishing new startups, re-establishment of businesses, and expansion of existing businesses in Khyber and North & South Waziristan areas.
The forum will comprise of 40 economic development and private sector investment experts, public representatives, business community members, banks, micro-financers, policy-makers, think-tanks and academia.
These efforts for sustainable economic growth is part of the USAID-funded FATA Economic Revitalization Programme (FERP) for the newly merged districts.
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