MSME National Summit Season 3: Vision of MSME Industry

The ever-evolving world system is rapidly changing the dimensions in which businesses operate. As all businesses – big or small – are equally affected in this new era of doing business, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are no different, and are seeing significant action. In fact, this environment of changing business dynamics is creating challenges as well as opportunities for enterprises.

In fact, this is the best time for entrepreneurs working in the MSME sector to rethink various dimensions to formulate their strategies. This may prove to be an essential step to ensure sustainable development in the future. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) play a vital role in the economy, making a fair and significant contribution to sectors such as GDP, exports and employment generation.

The third season of the MSME National Summit is dedicated to brainstorming on a range of topics focused on emerging growth opportunities for the emerging MSME sector.

In today’s special session, industry leaders from Ludhiana, Jaipur and Hyderabad are focusing on the vision of the MSME industry, domestic challenges, operational sentiment, a range of essential aspects for entrepreneurs including finance, exports, e-commerce and digital. Discussing and decoding the series. Change.

The list of panelists in today’s session is as follows:

• Upkar Singh Ahuja, President, Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU)
• K Rama Devi, President, Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of India (ALEAP)
• Dr. Arun Aggarwal, Executive President, Federation of Rajasthan Trade and Industry (Forti)

Saurabh Manchanda, SME Editor, Zee Business, moderated the session.

Upkar Singh Ahuja of CICU mentioned that Ludhiana has a large number of MSMEs, which have their finger on the pulse of the popular industrial city of Punjab. He said around 75,000 registered MSMEs operating in various sectors are based in the city, manufacturing a vast range of products.

Ahuja said that due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war in Europe, entrepreneurs are feeling pressure in terms of exports. He said that apart from this, the impact of the situation on domestic exporters is also visible amid pressure in the major export markets of Europe and America.

He also shared his views on availability of finance for MSMEs and support from the banking sector.

Ahuja said assistance is needed to enable entrepreneurs to improve their exports.

K Rama Devi of ALEAP said that e-commerce is proving to be a game-changer for MSMEs. He said, it is creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs and connecting them from local to global chain.

In the depths of the pandemic, many women entrepreneurs used e-commerce to not only keep their businesses running but also profit from it, Devi highlighted.

Lauding the government’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) initiative, Devi said there is no doubt that e-commerce is driving digitalisation, but entrepreneurs need to take training to be ready for the new era. . She also said that there is a need to simplify training programs for women entrepreneurs in rural areas.

Dr. Arun Aggarwal of Forti said that there are more than 6.5 crore registered MSMEs working in various sectors in the country and more than 10 crore including the unorganized sector.

He stressed the need to promote MSME registration, saying that this is an important step towards strengthening the single-window system in the states.

Dr Aggarwal also mentioned two important aspects for MSME entrepreneurs: fuel and finance. He said that both the areas need special attention.

He also said that MSMEs should get credit cards similar to the Kisan Credit Card scheme for the agriculture sector.