Ease of doing business for MSMEs: Highlighting the India-UAE trade deal, Piyush Goyal said MSMEs of both countries will be the biggest beneficiary of the agreement.
Piyush Goyal exhorts large firms to help MSMEs adopt best practices, integrate into supply chain ecosystem
Ease of doing business for MSMEs: Commerce minister Piyush Goyal has exhorted large businesses in the country to take responsibility for handholding MSMEs, supporting them to adopt best practices in businesses and also integrating them into the supply chain ecosystem. Speaking at the fourth plenary session of B20 India Inception Meeting on Building Resilient Global Value Chains organised by industry body CII on Monday, the minister said MSMEs tend to grow around a larger unit or an anchor company.
Citing Apple’s example, Goyal said as Apple’s manufacturing plant comes up, thousands of MSME units flourish in the ecosystem as mini value chain suppliers to the company. “MSMEs have more practical solutions, day-to-day experiences, and having learnt the hard way, they are able to adapt to circumstances better than large companies.”
Ease of doing business for MSMEs: Commerce minister Piyush Goyal has exhorted large businesses in the country to take responsibility for handholding MSMEs, supporting them to adopt best practices in businesses and also integrating them into the supply chain ecosystem. Speaking at the fourth plenary session of B20 India Inception Meeting on Building Resilient Global Value Chains organised by industry body CII on Monday, the minister said MSMEs tend to grow around a larger unit or an anchor company.
Citing Apple’s example, Goyal said as Apple’s manufacturing plant comes up, thousands of MSME units flourish in the ecosystem as mini value chain suppliers to the company. “MSMEs have more practical solutions, day-to-day experiences, and having learnt the hard way, they are able to adapt to circumstances better than large companies.”
Goyal also urged large enterprises to be sensitized to handhold MSMEs associated with them. “We must also try to make it easier to operate for small companies, eliminate unnecessary paperwork, make custom processes simpler, and use technology to ease and simplify processes.”
The minister also addressed the need for the country to become a global trading hub to support MSMEs. He suggested a study on Singapore to understand its important role as a trading hub and prepare a basic framework based on the study to support MSMEs. “It may involve Infrastructure development and addressing challenges of logistics. MSMEs bring trust to the table, which is the most important element of any value chain be it domestic or international,” Goyal added.
The minister’s comments come in the backdrop of trade deals signed with the UAE and Australia last year in order to reduce or remove trade barriers particularly import tariffs for MSMEs and other businesses.
Also read: In-depth: Will India’s trade deals with UAE, Australia push MSME exports
Reflecting on the India-UAE trade deal Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), Goyal said MSMEs of both countries will be the biggest beneficiary of this agreement. “In fact, India is in dialogue with some of the larger companies of the UAE to leverage the best out of CEPA.”
The UAE was the second top export market for India in the fiscal year 2021-22 after the US while China stood third, according to the FY22 Economic Survey. India’s annual exports to the UAE are around $26 billion. Apart from the two countries, similar pacts are under discussion with the UK, the European Union, Canada, Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – a political and economic alliance of six Middle Eastern countries viz., Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and the UAE.
