Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) lie at the heart of inclusive markets. They are also important employers of marginalized groups such as women and youth, offering opportunities to people who may otherwise be excluded from the economic mainstream. In Pakistan, nearly 90 percent of all enterprises are SMEs, employing 80 percent of the non-agricultural workforce. They contribute 40 percent of Pakistan’s GDP and can potentially play an even greater part in economic growth and poverty alleviation.

Last year, at the Sustainable Development Summit in New York, the world’s nations came together and vowed to transform our world. Pakistan was amongst those nations, and took its commitment a big step further: the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it was declared, would be Pakistan’s national development goals.

There are more young Pakistanis today than ever before. Nearly a third of the population is between 15 and 29 years of age; together these young people make up a vast pool of energy, talent and enthusiasm to build a better Pakistan. This large youth population is a great gift for any country. As the young enter employment, they form the biggest workforce in history, bringing prosperity and vigour to the national economy and to society as a whole.

In recent years, we have witnessed hundreds of Pakistani communities withstand shocks that should break them. And we have learned that it is essential to support vulnerable communities in difficult areas, to build their resilience so they are able to bounce back, even after catastrophic events, and maintain the social and economic networks on which we all depend.

On 26 October, an earthquake in the Hindu Kush mountains shook Pakistan and Afghanistan. Although assessment is still underway, the damage seems less severe than originally feared. Still, hundreds were killed and many left homeless at the start of winter. For many, it was a brutal reminder of an even more devastating day ten years earlier. On 8 October 2005, as children made their way to school, the earth shook in northern Pakistan. By the time it stilled, schools, homes and hospitals lay in rubble. The region’s infrastructure was devastated, 73,338 people were dead, and 3.5 million in some of Pakistan’s poorest and most remote areas were affected.