Zee Business MSME Summit Season 2: Industry leaders share opinions on ‘Business Beyond Boundaries’ in SME sector – Who said what

Zee Business MSME Summit Season 2: In order to discuss the challenges and new opportunities of the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector in the current era, Zee Business conducted Season 2 of ‘MSME National Summit’.

 

The theme of season 2 episode 3 of the event was Business Beyond Boundaries. Director General and CEO of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations Dr. Ajay Sahai guided the audience with his views on various aspects related to increasing trade deficit, interest rates, China plus one factor, free trade agreement, and new opportunities in e-commerce in the program.

 

Talking about the rising trade deficit aspect on the export front, Sahai said it is definitely a matter of concern, but added that he would not like to worry too much about it. He said the reality is that commodity prices are very high, and the energy source is dependent on imports. Along with this, there is also pressure on the prices of crude oil at the global level. He also said that such a situation had to come as we are witnessing a change in global trade.

 

Sahai said that inflation is affecting the economies of the world and high inflation is reducing purchasing power. Due to this, pressure is also being felt on the business. During the discussion, he said that exports are generating employment on a large scale. On the other hand, if exports slow down, their impact can be felt on the employment front as well.

 

Keeping an eye on geopolitical tensions, the Director General said that uncertainty is not good for any business. This is putting pressure on energy and food prices. The current financial year FY23 will be challenging.

 

Amid signs of slowdown in the major export markets, Sahai said that in view of the demand in the current crisis, MSMEs can come to online platforms to sell their products. At present, e-commerce retail platforms can prove to be very helpful for MSMEs as there is a small demand in it and micro and small units will not have any problem in meeting this demand. Along with this, MSMEs should also prepare a medium-term roadmap.

 

Global trade will also be technology-focused, hence MSMEs should lay special emphasis on technology, he added.

 

Taking a look at the China Plus One strategy, the CEO of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations said that India is definitely on the radar in this. If exports from India are good, then this is one factor in which many global companies are diversifying their purchases. They feel that India is the only country in diversification that can match those quantities. But in the midst of all this, India also has to develop production capacity to that level, he added.

 

On the innovation-branding-quality improvement front, he further said that MSMEs need to look into these aspects as well. He said that India has to manufacture quality products at very competitive prices for exports. He added that in today’s time the customer is also very conscious about the quality of the product.

 

Speaking on the aspect of the Free Trade Agreement, Sahai said that now India’s FTA strategy has progressed a lot. Earlier it used to do FTAs ​​with countries which were strong in manufacturing. Despite this, export growth could not match the import growth, he said. But now, the government is focusing on the major export markets. So, they will get more good markets, he added.