Connecting Small and Medium Enterprises India in Mekong Sub Region

On August 19, as an official partner, leaders of the Trade Promotion Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) participated in the India-Mekong trade connection program series 1: Cross-border trade.
The program aims to strengthen the global value chain and trade between India and the GMS (Greater Mekong Subregion - Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia) and is part of the series of activities of the Energy Enhancement Project. The international integration force of small and medium enterprises: Connecting India - Greater Mekong Subregion.

The program is designed to provide training, mentoring and networking support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in these regions. The first networking session “Cross-Border Trade” is where SMEs and participants have the opportunity to network with importers and exporters, manufacturers, service providers and EXIM experts from India, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Sanjay Bhatia, Representative of Confederation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, emphasized that SMEs play an increasingly important role in national economic development in India and globally. SMEs are contributing 40% of GDP in developing countries and emerging markets and could be higher in other markets if other economic sectors are taken into account.

In 2020, despite being severely affected by Covid-19, many SMEs were severely affected and many of them were unable to stand due to lack of capital. Governments are supporting these businesses in many ways. In the same context, at the present time, SMEs in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and India need to cooperate and find a suitable new business method, in order to increase export opportunities to the international market and increase exports. increase corporate profits. The market situation is shrinking, in addition to the support from the Government with incentive policies, SMEs themselves need to improve product quality.

Over the past time, Vietnam has issued many policies to support SMEs and achieved certain successes. However, it has not yet met the requirements and needs of enterprises in the context of international integration deepening. In the context of limited resources of the Government of Vietnam, the Government of Vietnam always wishes to receive the support of international institutions, especially large institutions such as the Asian Development Bank.

As for the Indian market, the leader of the Trade Promotion Agency also said that bilateral trade exchanges between Vietnam and India in the first months of 2021 will continue to grow strongly, with remarkable results. According to data from the General Department of Customs of Vietnam, bilateral trade between Vietnam and India had a positive growth in the first three months of 2021, reaching $3.3 billion, up 34.1% over the same period last year. If the current growth momentum continues, bilateral trade between the two countries will reach more than 13 billion USD this year.

Affirming the goal of the Thai Government in the future is to develop SME, create a sustainable environment for businesses from different countries to cooperate closely. Thailand has always been an effective arm to support countries and give new initiatives, said Mr. Adul Chotinisakorn, former Director of Foreign Trade Department, Ministry of Commerce of Thailand, that is one of the easiest ways to help Indian SMEs. Cooperation with Thai enterprises is through export. Establishing an online portal for SME to help Indian businesses get information about buyers and sellers from Thailand. In addition, Thailand's orientation to promote bilateral cooperation between countries also helps Indian businesses more convenient when cooperating with Thai enterprises.

From the practical experience and effectiveness achieved in supporting SMEs in Cambodia, a representative of the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce shared, Cambodia has 13 working groups, each focusing on a different field, what is the big problem? that cannot be resolved at the working group level will be referred to the Prime Minister; there is a coordination mechanism between the trade and the chamber of commerce, so issues related to taxes, customs, import and export will be resolved quickly and directly.

The Cambodian government focuses on 5 priority areas, which are also important to promote SME development: Medical equipment manufacturing, packaging… In addition, the country also focuses on agriculture. Industry, tourism, construction and real estate… With India, Cambodia is cooperating a lot in agriculture, pharmaceutical processing and can expand to other fields.