Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) jointly with the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India organised the India Global Summit on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) on 20 – 21 November 2009 at The Lalit, Barakhamba Avenue, New Delhi, India.

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) provide the energy for the economy to grow.Stating this in his address at the India Global Summit on MSMEs being organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi today, Mr Arun Maira, Member, Planning Commission, Government of India, said, "We look at the moon for light, but we miss the fireflies". Substantiating this view, he said that the 26 million MSMEs in the country provide employment to 60 million people, and account for 30% of the manufacturing GDP and 40% of the total exports. So, to promote inclusivity, the focus should necessarily be on taking the MSME sector to a higher growth trajectory, he said.

In line with the theme for the summit i.e. ‘Building the Next Generation MSMEs ‘, the summit witnessed participation from more than 30 countries, from Africa, East Asia, Europe & Latin America. The key focus areas for the next generation MSMEs, that include Innovation, Incubation, Marketing, ICT Adaptation, Finance & Micro entrepreneurship were reflected at the MSME Mart by projection & participation of the Procter & Gamble Innovation Centre, Korea Business Incubating Centre, National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), Progression Infonet (P) Ltd, Standard Chartered Bank, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), CRISIL & Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST).

Also coinciding with the India Global Summit on MSMEs, CII also organized a Buyer-Seller Meet, that included more than 200 meetings between OEMs/Large Corporations / PSUs and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. Key companies, that participated at the Buyer-Seller Meet, included Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL), Philips Electronics India ltd,Bechtel India Pvt Ltd, International Tractor Ltd, New Holland Fiat ( India) Pvt Ltd, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd,  Standard Chartered Bank, Procter & Gamble Innovation Centre, and Maruti Suzuki India Limited.

In his Inaugural address, Mr Arun Maira, Member, Planning Commission, Government of India stated that Indian MSMEs like garment manufacturing firms are already integrated with the global production chain, he said the larger enterprises could learn from their experience and consider setting up small teams within them and promote a spirit of ''intrapreneurship". At the same time, the small enterprises need to complement each other and collectively function as big entities, he said.

Mr Maira said that instead of viewing capitalism as damaging to the interests of small enterprises, the objective should be to promote millions of entrepreneurs who are capitalists themselves. "We need to create businesses that are by the people, for the people and of the people," he said.

He said the key growth drivers for the sector would be: (i) adoption of appropriate technologies, (ii) promotion of owner-producers, and (iii) greater cooperation and collaboration among the MSMEs themselves.

MSMEs around the world are indeed poised to leverage the business opportunities that stem from the gradual recovery of the global economy. Stating this in his keynote address, Mr Dinesh Rai, Secretary, Ministry of MSME, Government of India, said the MSMEs, having weathered the difficult economic times, will emerge stronger if due financial and technological support is extended to them.

Mr Rai said the Government of India had introduced two growth stimulus packages and a series of fiscal and monetary measures that have greatly alleviated the financial problems that Indian MSMEs faced in the wake of the global economic slowdown. The challenge hereon would be for these enterprises to establish their global competitiveness, for which they will need to focus upon new technologies, R&D and market expansion globally.

Underlining the need for creating a sufficient number of entrepreneurship development institutes across the country, Mr Rai said the Government will provide 50% subsidy for any initiative towards setting up such institutes in the country. In the North-East region, subsidy to the order of 90% will be given for such initiatives.

Earlier, Mr Salil Singhal, Chairman, CII National MSME Council, in his welcome address said the current Summit, the sixth in a series, has drawn the participation of representatives from 32 countries, other than Indian participants.

He said the MSMEs had borne the brunt of the "economy falling off the cliff". Mr Singhal said that at a meeting of the representatives of industry associations with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, CII highlighted the need for providing procurement incentives, enhanced depreciation on IT products, establishment of SME exchange, simplification of labour laws and creation of a uniform credit rating format and processes to facilitate credit availability for the MSMEs.