Small and Medium Exterprises Development Authority Ordinance, 2002

This 2002 ordinance created the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) as an autonomous body under the Federal Government (specifically, under the Ministry of Industries and Production, per the definition in Section 2) to support the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Pakistan. Section 3 establishes SMEDA as a body corporate that can own property, enter contracts, and sue or be sued, with its head office at Lahore (or elsewhere as the government later notifies).

Section 4 sets out SMEDA's wide-ranging functions: advising on SME policy-making, planning and evaluating SME-related programmes, acting as a research and information resource for the SME sector, providing or arranging technical, financial, managerial, legal and marketing support services, helping establish SME associations, and borrowing money or entering agreements needed to carry out its work.

SMEDA is run by a Board (Chapter III, Sections 5-11) rather than directly by the government. Section 6 lists the Board's members: the Chairman, the Secretaries of the Industries, Finance and Commerce divisions, the Chairman of the (then) Central Board of Revenue, the Chief Executive Officer, and six private-sector members -- as far as possible with at least one from each province -- chosen for their integrity, expertise and knowledge relevant to SMEs. Day-to-day management is led by a Chief Executive Officer (Chapter V, Sections 12-15), who must meet prescribed qualifications and can be disqualified under set conditions, with an Executive Secretary (Section 17) supporting Board administration.

Financially, SMEDA operates through its own Fund (Section 22), with expenditure charged to it, annual accounts and audits (Section 24), and the power to invest and hold bank accounts (Sections 25-26). Section 30 lets the Federal Government issue policy guidelines to SMEDA, and Section 31 makes its Chief Executive, Board members and staff public servants for legal purposes. Section 40 formally repeals the earlier 1998 government notification under which SMEDA had previously been operating administratively, folding all its prior assets, staff and undertakings into the new statutory body (Section 39).

This is a fairly modern ordinance (2002) that establishes SMEDA's institutional structure rather than regulating SMEs themselves directly; it does not set out specific obligations, fees or penalties for small businesses, but rather creates the government body meant to support them.