Making MSMEs a Hub for Global Manufacturing

Business Standard hosted another chapter of the Smart Business Event in association with the World Trade Center on July 10. Titled ‘Leveraging on MSME Strength to Become Global Manufacturing Hub’, the webinar with eminent panellists from Indonesia, Vietnam and India dwelled upon the ways MSMEs can have access to finance and transform themselves digitally.

 The panel comprised of Nguyen Ngoc Tu, Founder and CEO, Data services Corp; Nika Pranata, Digital Economy Researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences; Nitin Jain, Co-founder and Head of Sales and New Initiatives Of Business and Vishwa Saran, Director Tax Services, Grant Thornton, Vietnam.

 In their addresses the panellists shared the challenges facing the MSME sector and the role of technology can play in business transformation. Tu was of the view, that as a first step, the MSMEs need to bring about a change in their mindset and be open to the idea of adopting technology.

 Pranata from Indonesian Institute lent the audience an Indonesian perspective on the impact of the pandemic. More than 300,000 small and medium enterprises in the country have switched to digital platforms as a way of survival. 

 Jain in his presentation talked about the role his firm has been playing in not only meeting MSMEs financial needs but also helping them procure raw material at a cost-effective rate which in turn, has helped them reduce the overall costs in a big way. Jain highlighted the practical issues that small units are faced and the role technology can play in various operations be it maintaining books of account, procuring raw material or bridging the trust deficit between the buyer and seller.

 Grant Thornton’s Saran touched upon the issues facing the MSMs from the point of view of transfer pricing. The one and half hour webinar which was attended by close to 200 ended with a round of question and answers which was fielded by the panellist to everyone's satisfaction.

 Business Standard’s Smart Business Event, a B2B programme, endeavours to bring the association and industry on a common platform to share best practices and thought leadership on topics of vital importance.