The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : "International partnerships key to SMEs' success"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 13, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

"International partnerships key to SMEs' success"

Staff Reporter

P. Murari, Adviser to FICCI president (left), sharing a lighter moment with Mahabir Prasad, Union Minister for Smallscale, Agro & Rural Industries, at the summit on `Going Global to become SMEs of the future,' organised by FICCI in Chennai on Monday. Others (from left) are: Yoshiaki Kodaki, Consul General of Japan, and M. Rafeeque Ahmed, Chairman, FICCI, TNSC. — Photo: V. Ganesan

CHENNAI: "Clusters are vital for the development of SMEs," said Mahabir Prasad, Union Minister for Small Scale, Agro and Rural Industries. Inaugurating a summit on "Going Global to become SMEs of the Future" being organised by the Tamil Nadu State Council of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI-TNSC), Mr. Prasad noted that the Cluster Development Programme is one of the most important initiatives taken by the government to enhance the competitiveness of SMEs in the era of globalisation.

Collective bargaining

SMEs operating in clusters can avail themselves of the advantages of collective bargaining, which is key to succeeding on the international stage, said Rafeeque Ahmed, chairman of FICCI-TNSC. He urged the government to facilitate credit access and technology transfers for SMEs and accord them some protection till they can face global competition.

"The challenge is to ensure that [export and growth oriented] SMEs graduate not just from small to medium, but also from national to international," he said.

Indian SMEs were also encouraged to leverage the advantages of collective efficiency and flexibility by partnering with their counterparts in other countries. The Consul General of Japan Yoshiaki Kodaki said that the strong SME sector in Japan is increasingly looking to invest in India and shift some of their manufacturing bases here. "India has gradually become popular among Japanese companies as their destination for FDI. According to a survey, India was listed as the second most desirable destination of FDI, only after China," he said.

Praising the Tamil Nadu government's efforts to attract Japanese SME investment, he said three Japanese trade delegations would be in Chennai over the next two weeks. While the Osaka Prefecture Economic Mission consists of SMEs who "want to survey the possibility of starting up their FDIs in Tamil Nadu," the president of the Japan External Trade Organisation and the Japan Machinery Association will also visit the city.

Strategic partnerships

Such strategic partnerships with international businesses will help Indian SMEs "sustain competitiveness and build a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship that would lead to strong expansion of capacity, in order to create new demand and generate new markets," according to the summit chairman S. Nagarajan.

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