• Research and innovation assume critical significance for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in their quest for global competitiveness. Stating this at the inaugural session of the 10^th Global India Summit organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi in association with the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Government of India, Mr K H Muniappa, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Government of India, said the global event is a singular opportunity for participating enterprises from India and the overseas to engage in deeper knowledge sharing on MSME-relevant innovations.
  
  Referring to the long-standing issue of timely credit flow to Indian MSMEs, Mr Muniappa said he has called for a meeting of heads of Indian banks to find ways to speed up the advances to MSMEs. He urged Indian industry to also put forward their recommendations on tackling this issue. He stated that the MSME Ministry is discussing ways to enhance the Credit Guarantee Scheme to meet the needs of a greater number of enterprises.
  
  Mr Muniappa said in his closing remarks that Indian MSMEs hold the key to job creation for the large number of young people who are entering the workforce.
  
  
• CII and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for knowledge partnership in the presence of the minister.
  
  
• Mr Madhav Lal, Secretary, Ministry of MSME, Government of India, said in his address that the sheer diversity of the MSME sector poses a big challenge to policy makers. Keeping this in view, the ministry is now attempting to introduce policies that meet the specific needs of MSMEs at different stages of their enterprise lifecycle. For instance, the finance and credit needs of an early stage enterprise are necessarily different from the needs of enterprises at a mature stage. Hence, policy interventions will be calibrated accordingly.
  
  
• Mr Lal noted two key trends seen in the MSME sector. Over the last 10 years, the unorganised segment of MSMEs has recorded eight times the growth of the organised segment, and 95 per cent of MSMEs are in the unorganised segment. This poses a big challenge to MSME policy makers. The other key trend is that MSME share of national GDP, manufacturing output and exports are declining, albeit slowly. This needs to be addressed on a war footing.
  
  Mr Lal said that Indian MSMEs need an enabling ecosystem that helps them to tap the growing business opportunities in the global manufacturing space. He referred to the global sourcing of auto components to illustrate how component manufacturers have benefited from the emerging global manufacturing value and production chains.
  
  Mr Lal said the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) for Accelerating Manufacturing in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, which he headed, has made a set of 61 recommendations in its report submitted with the government. Among the recommendations, the panel has addressed the issue of lack of robust statistics on different areas the sector. The challenge lies in capturing MSME data covering the informal segment, he said.
  
  Mr Lal said that the ministry will work closely with MSME associations and industry bodies to raise the awareness of enterprises regarding various government schemes and programmes.
  
  
• Dr Surajit Mitra, Director, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, said in his address that the MSME sector has the highest potential for employment generation, and has the maximum scope for modernisation, export orientation and induction of technology and skills. Referring to the partnership with CII, Dr Mitra said the focus areas are: policy and procedural reforms for exports, training programmes for export management, online dissemination of information to MSMEs, national dialogue of MSMEs, development of sectoral training modules, and induction of technology and skills.
  
  
• Mr Deep Kapuria, Chairman, CII National Council on MSMEs & Chairman, Hi Tech Gears Ltd, said in his opening remarks that the MSME sector needs key support from the government to address the issue of delayed payments. He urged the government to increase the duration before after which MSME credit is declared by banks as NPAs from 90 days to 180 days.
  
  
• Mr Kapuria urged the MSME Ministry to introduce steps for better implementation of the Public Procurement Policy for MSEs, and added that the definition of MSME segments needs to be revisited soon than later. Besides, Mr Kapuria drew the minister’s attention to tax issues concerning MSME exporters, such as, interest subvention and duty drawback. 

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) with support from the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India organised the 10^th edition of the Global India MSME Summit on 9 - 10 October 2013 at New Delhi. 

The MSME Summit will promote extensive knowledge sharing and collaborative efforts toward ‘Building Innovative, Knowledge-Led Global MSMEs in Engineering & Manufacturing Sectors’, which is the principal theme of the Summit. The summit is designed to provide a singular opportunity for MSMEs to identify the emerging global markets, hold high-level meetings with prospective partners, establish collaborative businesses and to create a strong platform for key decision makers, business leaders and multilateral, regional and national funding agencies from India and other countries to address issues common to MSMEs and identify cross-border partnership opportunities. 

The deliberations and discussions at the summit would focus on “Engineering & Manufacturing strengths of Indian MSMEs and its potential global markets”. The summit will also feature Master Classes, focusing on topics which are critical for successful integration of Indian SMEs with global value chain such as  “Branding and Marketing”; “Export Finance Management”; “Export Management – Documentation” and “Technology, Innovation & Design”. The Summit will be addressed by eminent national and international speakers and will be attended by a large number of delegates from all over India representing SMEs, SME Associations, Financial Institutions, Multilateral Funding Agencies, Government Departments, State Governments etc.