Towards Strengthening the Growth Accelerators Called MSMEs
29th March, 2022 : Release of Souvenir at Mega International Summit at the hands of (in the Center) Chief Guest, Shri Narayan Tatu Rane, Hon’ble Union Minister of MSME in presence of (3rd from L) Guest of Honour, Shri Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for MSME, & (L to R) Dr. Sunil Shukla, Director General-EDII; Smt. Mercy Epao, Joint Secretary (SME), Ministry of MSME, GoI; Dr. Gholamhossein Hosseininia, Hon’ble Deputy Minister of Cooperative, Labour & Social Welfare, Iran & President TVTO, Tehran, Iran; Dr. Ali Chegeni, Ambassador of Iran to India & Dr. Amit Dwivedi, Associate Professor & Summit Incharge, EDII.
Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and EDII organised a two-day summit (29th & 30th March) witnessing brainstorming sessions and panel discussions on the enhancements, challenges and growth opportunities in the MSME sector. Speakers and experts from India, Singapore, Peru, Lao PDR, Rwanda, Myanmar, Russia, Uzbekistan, Spain and Iran, shared their experiences at the summit. The summit was attended by entrepreneurs, academicians, policymakers, industry leaders, thought leaders, business chambers, industry associations, startups, social impact organizations, MSMEs and self-help groups from across the world. During the summit, experts deliberated on subjects such as challenges and opportunities in the MSME sector amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, incubation / acceleration in MSME growth, role of conducive policies and non-financial business development services in MSME competitiveness, and how MSMEs can work in consortia to achieve sustainability. Discussions revolved around MSMEs’ competitiveness, internationalization of Indian MSMEs, technology and innovation, digital transformation of MSMEs, entrepreneurship ecosystem and emerging opportunities in the MSME sector, and gender and disadvantaged communities’ entrepreneurship.
On 29th March, the Summit was inaugurated by Union Minister for MSME, Shri Narayan Rane. Shri Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, Minister of State (MoS), MSME was the Guest of Honour.
The Summit, in totality, established the role of MSMEs in the growth and economic development of a country. The factors that were attributed to a well-evolved MSME sector included, emphasis on science & technology, policy making and an understanding of the broad spectrum of MSMEs including high-tech enterprises in the organized sector to several others across industry domains in the informal sector. The Summit brought forth some of the needs and concerns of MSMEs across countries. These were highlighted as the need and access to sustainable infrastructure, consortia approach to business, business development service, finance, technology, training, product diversification, marketing and branding, skilled labour and simplified regulatory mechanism.
“For a long time now, MSMEs have been working amidst minimum resources and yet making a significant contribution to the GDP of the country. It is, therefore, necessary that these growth accelerators are handheld and strengthened. In this direction, various schemes of the government have opened up several avenues for MSMEs.”
– Shri Narayan Rane, Hon’ble Union Minister for MSME, Chief Guest at the inauguration of the Mega International Summit on MSME Competitiveness and Growth.
“India, with its focus on entrepreneurship, start-ups, innovations and MSMEs, is well placed at a remarkable time on account of interesting economic decisions and strategies. The discernible economic growth is a testimony to MSME development and revival…”
– Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, Hon’ble Minister of State (MoS), MSME, Guest of Honour at the inauguration of the Mega International Summit on MSME Competitiveness & Growth.
“Iran is considered an energy superpower. The country has a high quantum of natural resources backed by a substantial population of skilled and educated human resources, thus making it resilient and progressive on the fronts of science and technology. The Government of Iran is envisioning an S & T centre to ensure promotion of knowledge-driven enterprises. We are now also prioritizing collaborations between countries and promoting B2B endeavors to improve the MSME scenario.”
– Dr. Gholamhossein Hosseininia, Dy. Minister of Cooperative, Labour & Social Welfare & President – TVTO, Iran
“On the turf of business, the worst hit were the MSMEs which are not so rich in resource reserve and have, therefore, been noticeably pressured under the consequences of COVID 19. The Govt. also rose to the occasion and announced amiable policies. Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan came in as a ray of hope for Indian MSMEs.”
– Ms. Alka Arora, JS-ARI, Ministry of MSME, Govt of India
“People, Planet and Profits vis-à-vis MSMEs are important and can be understood as right orientation, sustainable and environment friendly business models. Entrepreneurs have to be concerned about the environment. Profits are just an outcome of the work they deliver with the right mindset.”
– Dr. K. Rangarajan, Head, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Kolkata
“A conducive entrepreneurship ecosystem and opportunities in the MSME sector are closely related. Today, it is good to see how well-meaning policies are bolstering the entrepreneurial quotient of the country which, in turn, is intensifying MSME growth & competitiveness.”
– Smt. Mercy Epao, Joint Secretary (SME), Ministry of MSME, GoI
“EDII has been closely associated with the Ministry of MSME on several important programmes and projects under cluster development, training and capacity building, research and policy advocacy. We look forward to imparting yet more scalability and extensibility to the MSME sector with carefully curated strategies.”
– Dr Sunil Shukla, Director General – EDII
