In an endeavour to boost budding MSMEs of Uttar Pradesh (UP), the MSME chamber of the the Indian Industries Association (IIA) along with the German Ministry of Economic Co-Operation and Development will arrange Entrepreneur Development Programmes across the state soon.

“We have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ZDH (German Confederation of Skilled Craft) and SEQUA, two of Germany’s apex industrial associations. As per the MoU, the German entities will help all MSME industrial associations in North India in capacity building activities in their states and train MSMEs in the region how to achieve optimum results with limited resources. Initially the MoU will cover four points for capacity building for 1 year, but later it might be extended,” said Pramod Miglani, general secretary of the IIA to a Bizxchange correspondent.

Besides exploring the prospects of setting up an Indo-German SME network to facilitate mutual business gains, plans for skill development and knowledge sharing are also in the offing in the near future.

“Indian MSMEs can benefit a lot from German expertise because the German economy is highly dependent on its MSMEs for the growth of the nation. However, it has to be seen how the programme is implemented,” said Ankur Dhandaria, owner of Ankur Exports, a small-sized unit in Kanpur which manufactures and exports paper products.

Significantly, UP is home to around 1.2 million MSMEs. This development is likely to help budding MSMEs in the state to enhance their business operations, which would consequently increase their productivity.

Sreemita Bhattacharya