MoU signed to introduce AutoPlus

Lahore: The Pakistan Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers Association, the SME Business Support Fund and the Pakistan Software Export Board have signed a memorandum of understanding introducing AutoPlus and establishing a framework to promote it over 200 small and medium enterprises. Federal Minister for Information Technology Dr Abdullah Riar was chief guest.

The AutoPlus will not only fulfils the needs of auto parts industry but also enhance industry horizon by its standard and amazing features. It improves and accelerates the current performance of the industry with its unique architecture and state of the art open source technology. By implementing this, the ready availability of purpose-built shareware will curb the use of pirated software and make automation affordable.

The minister urged Paapm members to take advantage of the comprehensive Enterprise Resource Planning solution which is an outcome of the good governance in the IT sector. He said that efficient supply chain help improve efficiency and quality of the product.

SME Business Support Fund (BSF) chief operating officer Ali Sarfraz while briefing about the BSF objectives said that it assists in the improvement of the competitiveness of SMEs and to enhance their revenue-generating capacity and profitability. BSF provides free grant up to Rs 1.8 million and shares 50 percent of the cost of training of employees while it also help in marketing product. As an integral part of the overall programme, BSF has been created with the support of the Asian Development Bank to assist both SMEs and the respective providers of business development services.