Technology is a Must for MSMEs' Growth Path: DC MSME

For sustainable growth of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, it is important to ensure inclusivity and sensitivity to those unable to keep pace with the surge in technology, Ram Mohan Mishra, Additional Secretary & Development Commissioner, Ministry of MSME, said recently during a FICCI event.

He further said that there was no choice but to tackle the challenges of logistics, capacity and institutional lacunae.

The thrust, therefore, of the MSME Ministry was to empower MSMEs to face the market challenges, Mishra added.

Mishra made the remarks during a workshop on ‘Going global through E-commerce Marketplace for B2C Product Manufacturers, Exporters, Retailers and Online Sellers’, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Amazon in the national capital.

Sanjay Bhatia, President, FICCI-Confederation of MSMEs said that the number of digital buyers worldwide is expected to grow to 2.07 billion in 2019 from 1.3 billion in 2014. E-commerce shopping is a thriving market, with people increasingly choosing this option to order products and services at their convenience. Global e-commerce transactions in 2016 were USD 1.9 trillion accounting for 8.7 per cent of the total retail spending worldwide.

This is expected to grow to above USD 4 trillion by 2020, making up to nearly 15 per cent of the total retail spending. FICCI-CMSME has partnered with Amazon to create awareness about the potential, he informed.

Also Commerce Secretary Ms. Rita Teaotia who was present during the meeting voiced for an over-arching national e-commerce police to tap the huge opportunities in the sector.

The Commerce Secretary said that the country was not entirely ready to tap the opportunities offered by e-commerce and there was a crying need to ensure that various arms of the government – Department of IT, Finance and Department of Posts etc. – were on the same page to capitalise on the business prospects offered by the digital space.

The other challenges listed out by her included financial penetration and inclusion, infrastructure for delivery of products and unstable supply of power. These, she said, would have to be tackled upfront before the e-commerce players are able to reach out to an aspirational population, including the rural populace.