CII plans SMEs' meet

To increase competition among small and medium enterprises (SME), the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will organise a vendor linkage programme for the western region in August.

The chamber has already started their multi-point plans for SMEs with a training session on business for the owner-driven SMEs. "The programme will be on the lines of the SME Linkage 2004 conference organised in Gujarat recently," said a CII official.

"The participants who will be from the western region will be offered a platform to share their strategy and business plans," said the official. He said as many as 15 participants from across the state had evinced keen interest in the "training seminar on business plan for SMEs" and more are likely to come forward in sharing a common platform for improving their businesses.

During April and May the CII would enhance its activities in Madhya Pradesh. "We have taken a cluster of manufacturing units in MP and the SMEs will get an opportunity to interact with various organisations like banks, the Madhya Pradesh State Electricity Board and government officials," said the CII official.

Workshops and training programmes, business plans, quality, operational excellence and competency building will be the key areas of development.

While explaining problems faced by the SME sector Vipin Mullick, vice chairman, CII MP chapter said, "Planning is the essence of business and this becomes imperative when it is owner-driven. Long-term survival depends on how owners are able to think proactively, with a long-term growth path in mind."

Hariharan, a chartered accountant and business planner from Mumbai who was in the state capital to train the local SMEs said, "The SMEs will have to understand the importance of planning, the methodology of planning and also the science of control and decision-making through business plans."