The COVID-19 pandemic is a challenging time for every economy around the globe. Nations are under lockdown, which has resulted in restrictions on all business and trade activities, especially aff ecting Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). In such a time, all of the Government’s eff orts are focused on thinking about the measures that we can take for a quick recovery to get business back on track for these MSMEs followed by a rapid growth as MSMEs continue to be the backbone of the economy. This sector provides employment to over 11 crore Indians, contributes to around a third of the country’s GDP and accounts for about half of the country’s exports. It is inspiring to see the resilience and dynamism of Indian MSMEs in this time of crisis, as they are poised to contribute immensely to the vision of an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
MSMEs will be India’s biggest strength that will help the country recover from COVID-19. As the country moves strongly in the direction of economic self-reliance, and is invigorated with the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of ‘vocal for local’, Indian MSMEs will be uniquely positioned to further integrate themselves into global supply chains and diversify India’s export portfolio. I strongly believe that for the quick revival of the MSME sector, the need of the hour is special focus towards boosting exports. The Government laid the foundation to enable exports by institutionalizing the flagship Make in India program a few years ago. By giving an early impetus to MSMEs, the program has enabled many of them to become globally competitive and sell their products in the international markets and scale their business across geographies.
In this context, worldwide e-commerce marketplaces offer remarkable opportunity for Indian MSMEs. They off er local enterprises the chance to tap into the overseas market opportunities and access consumers across the globe directly. The rapid adoption of exports through e-commerce has significantly lowered the entry barrier for MSMEs to export and has helped in promoting champion sectors, like leather products, gems and jewellery, textiles, etc. which are popular with customers all over the world.
The presence of over 60,000 Indian MSME exporters on Amazon’s Global Selling program is a strong indicator of the potential that e-commerce exports hold for India. I strongly encourage enterprises to continue to make use of technology, research and innovation to understand the needs of customers in foreign markets and manufacture the products accordingly. With its agility and dynamism, and eff ective collaboration amongst diff erent stakeholders, I am confident that the MSME sector will be successful in increasing its share of exports to 60% soon.
As we work towards export led growth and revival of MSMEs in India, the stories of success of the enterprises featured in this compendium are a testament to the potential of the Indian entrepreneurs. I would like to off er my best wishes to the Amazon Global Selling team and all the Indian MSME sellers exporting through the program as they have been provided the global platform to sell their products internationally. I wish them success in their endeavors, become an inspiration for all MSMEs across India and hope that they continue scripting India’s growth story.
With Regards,
Nitin Gadkari
