Trade, Imports, Exports for MSMEs: Piyush Goyal had last month urged for increased SME exports given the tariff concessions under FTAs give export opportunities for products including those from SMEs.

Trade, Imports, Exports for MSMEs: Commerce minister Piyush Goyal has asked Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) to establish a framework that will help them process SME loans faster along with providing insurance cover to SME exporters. Goyal, in his meeting on Monday with industry bodies including CII, FICCI, Assocham, SME Chamber of India and PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry to resolve MSME issues, stressed on MSMEs’ adaptability to adapt to the market change and cater to the export market given their smaller size, Commerce Ministry said in a statement.

Access to affordable bank credit and delayed payments are among the major challenges for India’s MSME sector having around 60 million MSME units. The minister, in the meeting, ‘examined the possibility’ of large buyers making entire payments to SMEs against goods purchased in order to ensure their working capital is not blocked.

Goyal, on SMEs part, urged the manufacturers to churn out high-quality products of international standards for the sector’s exports to likely become part of the global value chain. The minister had last month also urged for increased SME exports given the tariff concessions under the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) signed by India gives export opportunities for products including those from SMEs. Japan, South Korea and some ASEAN countries offer such concessions on SME products including readymade garments, leather goods, processed foods, and engineering products such as auto components, Goyal had told Lok Sabha. MSMEs contributed nearly 50 per cent to India’s total exports, according to the MSME Ministry’s 2019 annual report.

Apart from making access to finance faster and boosting exports, Goyal also underlined the importance of 8 million women-led small businesses. Such MSMEs may get support from the government’s e-commerce platform GeM by getting them on-board and allowing them to sell to government departments, PSUs and organisations. GeM currently has over 66k micro and small sellers out of more than 3 lakh seller base. The marketplace, in order to boost its seller count, has been reaching out to small and medium enterprises, artisans, craftsmen in small cities and handhold them to bring them into the e-commerce fold (much like Amazon and Flipkart) through its new programme called GeM Samvaad launched last month.

Published On : 07-01-2020

Source : Financial Express