Institute bags Swiss project

On the basis of an experimental workshop conducted in Bangkok by Gandhinagar-based Entreprenuership Development Institute of India (EDI) in Novermber 2006, the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SADC) has assigned a two year project to the institute to promote entrepreneurship in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) comprising of Cambodia, China, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Under the project, EDI will conduct five regional awareness workshops titled `Unleashing Entrepreneurship for Development and Trade' at Vientiane in Laos PDR, Kunming in China, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Phnom Penh in Cambodia and Hanoi in Vietnam.

The project also includes a research study to understand different dimensions of entrepreneurship and trade in the region, the findings of which would be shared through seminars.

The project has been sponsored by Global Issues and Sustainable Development (GISD), a division of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Switzerland SADC.

The workshops would be targeted at senior delegates representing private enterprises, government departments, industry associations, academia, professional institutions and media dealing with economic issues from GMS countries.

Mekong Institute (MI), an independent GMS organisation providing programmes for public and private sector personnel in the areas of leadership, development and regional cooperation is EDI's partner for implementing the project.

"The SME sector contributes largely to the national economies of these nations in terms of output, employment and utilisation of regional resources. From our earlier experiences with this sector, our objectives for the upcoming workshops are to expand trade practices especially in the global markets under the prevailing WTO regime and to encourage the private sector to take up an advocacy role for the exchange of information on trade and exports," said Sunil Shukla, nodal officer for the project from EDI.

He added that the workshops would be facilitated through EDI's centres in the GMS countries along with local associations and trade bodies.

EDI has set up the Lao-India Entrepreneurship Development Centre at Vientiane, the Cambodia-India Entrepreneurship development Centre (CIEDC) and the Vietnam-India Entrepreneurship Development Centre (VIEDC). A full-fledged centre in Myanmar is to be set up soon.