‘Made in Pakistan’ expo to begin on Jan 24, Haroon Akhtar links MSME development to sustainable growth
ISLAMABAD, Jan 21 (APP):Announcing the launch of Pakistan’s first “Made in Pakistan SME Cluster Showcase Expo 2026 ” to be held in Lahore from January 24, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Haroon Akhtar Khan on Wednesday linked sustainable economic growth to the strengthening of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
“MSMEs are the backbone of Pakistan’s economy and essential for achieving sustainable GDP growth of 6–7 per cent,” he said while addressing a press conference here. He was accompanied by Secretary Ministry of Industries and Production Saif Anjum.
He said, the three day expo will be held at the Lahore Expo Centre from January 24 to 26 to showcase the country’s untapped entrepreneurial and industrial potential and bring together thousands of MSMEs from the country.
He highlighted that MSMEs were essential for inclusive growth, employment generation, noting that Pakistan had around seven million MSMEs, compared to only a few thousand large-scale manufacturing units.
He said the Expo would feature a wide range of sectors including sports goods, gems and jewellery, surgical instruments, cutlery, textiles, garments, leather goods, auto parts, household appliances, plastics, agri-based products, cosmetics, packaging, handicrafts and light engineering, with a separate pavilion dedicated to women entrepreneurs.
He described the event as Pakistan’s national platform for small businesses, featuring over 30 SME cluster pavilions, participation from 174 representatives and special pavilions are being established for women entrepreneurs and micro businesses.
International delegates from Azerbaijan, Kenya, and Malaysia will also attend, enhancing global exposure for Pakistani SMEs.
He added, the country had successfully achieved macroeconomic stabilization after a severe downturn and was now entering into a sustainable growth phase.
He said multilateral institutions including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and Asian Development Bank (ADB) had acknowledged the stabilisation, while improved performance of the stock exchange reflected restored investor confidence.
The Special Assistant said policy interest rates had been reduced from 22 per cent to 10.5 per cent, inflation had declined to around 4–5 per cent, and power tariffs had been brought down from Rs42 to around Rs34–35 per unit, with further reductions expected.
He acknowledged that high interest rates and taxation during the stabilization phase had caused difficulties for businesses, but said these measures were unavoidable to control the fiscal deficit and lay the foundation for long-term growth.
Haroon Akhtar said large-scale manufacturing (LSM) had shown a strong recovery, recording 10.37 per cent year-on-year growth in November 2025, while cumulative growth during the first five months of the fiscal year exceeded six per cent, reversing previous negative trends.
He said the government was finalising a comprehensive industrial policy, to be announced soon, focusing on access to credit, bankruptcy reforms, restructuring of sick units, export promotion and ease of doing business.
The Special Assistant said several sectoral policies were also in the pipeline, including a National Tariff Policy, Gems and Jewellery policy, Mobile phone manufacturing policy, Vaccine manufacturing policy, Solar and battery storage policy, Auto and home appliances policies, and initiatives for semiconductors and agri-food industries.
Highlighting the Prime Minister’s special focus on MSMEs, he said micro enterprises had been formally brought into the policy framework, including women-led and home-based businesses, to provide registration, access to finance and credit facilitation.
Meanwhile, Secretary Ministry of Industries and Production Saif Anjum said the MSME Expo 2026 would be a family-friendly event. He said the Expo would feature around 250 stalls with variety of locally made products ranging from furniture, handicrafts and olive, gems and other SMEs goods.
