The Indian MSME sector is one of the worst impacted since the onset of the pandemic last year. This year, when hope for recovery was ripe, all attempts turned out to be futile as a devastating second wave further worsened things for them. The plight of Indian MSMEs has travelled far and there has been an outpouring of international support and opportunities for global expansion. Here are some global opportunities and support for Indian MSMEs to look forward to
Italy India Innovation Day
The first edition of the ‘Italy India Innovation Day’ will be occurring in July this year. Indian start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs with innovative technologies to showcase are invited to grab international opportunities.
An initiative organised by AIICP (Association of India and Italy for Co-operation and Partnership), this event will see large Italian companies across several sectors like Industrial Automation, Transport/Railway, Finance/Insurance meeting with Indian start-ups (including members of AIICP). The event will be an online pitching session and will see participation from embassies of both nations.
World Bank’s $500 M MSME program
The World Bank is extending loans to Indian MSMEs and 555,000 MSMEs will benefit. USD 15 B will be sanctioned as part of the Indian Government’s $3.4 B MSME Competitiveness – A Post-Covid Resilience and Recovery Programme (MCRRP). The World Bank had earlier extended similar support to Indian MSMEs during the onset of the pandemic last year which was the MSME Emergency Response Program worth $750 M. The present $500 M program is titled ‘Raising and Accelerating Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Performance (RAMP). The loan extended will have a maturity of 18.5 years and comes with a grace period of 5.5 years.
Opportunity to Trade Internationally for MSME
Online marketplaces are helping Indian enterprises get international orders. Indian start-ups can register in these global online marketplaces and list products targeting customers from the UK, US, Germany, Australia, etc. These global marketplaces are working to open up the global cross-border e-commerce market for small businesses back in India.
Consider cross-border B2C selling for your small business to mitigate some of the impact of the pandemic. Cross-border e-commerce platforms will help start-ups under the Make in India purview export their products to international markets. Tweaks to the Foreign Trade Policy along with cross-border selling will be a saviour for MSMEs impacted due to the pandemic.
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Cross-border e-commerce platforms will help start-ups under the Make in India purview export their products to international markets.
Dun & Bradstreet to support MSMEs.
Dun & Bradstreet, a B2B data provider with a global presence recently signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) to support Indian SMEs. This move is aimed at helping Indian SMEs expand to global markets. With this additional business intelligence from D&B to guide them, Indian MSMEs will grow in a conducive environment.
Indian SMEs can access D&B’s data & analytics through the ‘BSE SME & Start-up Platform’. Start-ups can also participate in D&B’s Training & Certification programs. By listing on the BSE’s SME platform, Indian MSMEs will have better access to D&B’s data.
