Bhubaneswar, Jan 28: India’s MSME sector, grappling with pandemic disruptions, has been adopting mechanisms to move from low to high-value added activities, in order to make enterprises competitive and productive.

This is aimed at boosting the local economy and generating more and better quality jobs that help the sector sustainably integrate itself with the global supply chain. The ILO organized a ‘Policy Dialogue: Building a market responsive, resilient, and inclusive MSME ecosystem for job rich and sustainable growth’ in collaboration with the State Government of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

The event facilitated knowledge-sharing as it delved upon the strategies adopted for enabling promotion of sustainable enterprises, developing the missing segments in the value chain, promotion of MSME clusters based on regional comparative advantage and for economies of scale in other developing countries in the region.

Speaking at the session, BB Swain, Secretary, Ministry of Micro Small Medium Enterprises, Government of India said, “The MSME sector is important for India’s GDP. MSMEs have been impacted by preventive measures taken against COVID-19. To boost the ecosystem, India is trying to formalize the sector not to lose any benefits going to MSMEs. Resilience of MSMEs and market responsiveness will need technology to respond to the demands. This dialogue will support the knowledge building in the two states and support them to develop the evidence-based policy making.”

Emerging economies like India require market-driven growth models to triggerlocal economic development that will propel job creation and income generation. Job-rich growth protecting the interest of both the workers and employers and promoting Decent Work for All will enable the transition to a sustainable economy as enshrined in 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. The ILO is working with Andhra Pradesh and Odisha under its initiative ‘Promoting Sustainable Enterprises in India’ to design and implement evidence-based gender and market-responsive MSME policy initiatives. Workers and employers’ organizations are playing an important role in devising integrated sector strategies for demonstrating local economic development.

“Andhra Pradesh, being a new state, is collaborating with international agencies, in the field of technology, skills along with market linkages, to help strengthen market mechanism in identified sectors. Learnings from Vietnam, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, as well as knowledge sharing from Korea will provide insights on the global best practices at this high-level, multi stakeholder policy dialogue,” said Karikal Valaven, Special Chief Secretary to Government, Industries and Commerce, Government of Andhra Pradesh.