Czech Republic is keen to partner with Indian MSMEs for skill transfer and digitalization, said the Ambassador of Czech Republic to India, Milan Hovorka.
Leading a 10 members official SME Delegation from Czech Republic, Hovorka said his country is seeking Indian SME Partnerships in the sectors of textile, travel & hospitality, biotechnology and e-commerce.
Vinod Kumar, President of India SME Forum said, "The scale of digital transformation this country presents is tremendous and Greater digitization of MSMEs has the potential to triple the MSME sectors GDP contribution (from the current 8 per cent share), heighten employment opportunities for India’s growing workforce and enabling economic growth. India SME Forum is committed to take global best practices and solutions to all the MSMEs of India with the support of Ministry of MSME and Intel.”
Roshni Das, Director – Marketing, Intel India, stated, “MSMEs are the backbone of Indian economy for driving future innovation and growth of the country. Intel is committed to working with the ecosystem to ensure education, technology access and support for these businesses. We’re excited to collaborate with the India SME Forum to digitally empower MSMEs in India, enabling greater productivity, efficiency, opportunity and business success.”
MSME study
With 730 million people using the Internet by 2020 and 700 million smartphone users by 2022, MSMEs could gain a lot if the government-backed incubation centres scale up further for MSMEs to go digital.
In a survey conducted by the India SME Forum, as a part of its annual state of the MSME study in 19 states, over 34 per cent of the overall 1,29,537 MSME respondents employ digital methods to communicate with their employees, customers and suppliers. Only 7 per cent have fully embraced digital technology or SAAS Solutions. Over 50 per cent of the MSMEs highlighted several benefits (increase in profitability, operational efficiency and improved customer engagement), however 70 per cent of the MSME respondents cited lack of knowledge as a key barrier for wider adoption.
The India SME Forum, in association with the Ministry of MSME and Intel, has been organising interactions by holding ‘Entrepreneurs Day Out’ in major cities. So far interactions have been held at Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune and Jaipur and post Bengaluru the meet will be held at Kochi, Mumbai, Chandigarh and is expected to culminate in Delhi.