New Delhi, Mar 11 (KNN) India is all set to host the Commonwealth MSME Summit in May this year which will give a common platform to policymakers and stakeholders of Commonwealth members to devise ways of increasing trade.

Speaking at the two-day Commonwealth trade summit concluded in London on Friday, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia told delegates at the trade ministers’ meeting that India would host the Summit in May this year.

The two-day meeting witnessed the participation of businesses and politicians from around 35 Commonwealth member-states together and is the first meeting of trade ministers from across the region in the past 12 years. The Commonwealth represents about 2.4 billion people.

The Summit will be organized in association with India-Commonwealth SME Association (ICSA) which was launched in June, 2016, in the national capital to enable Indian SMEs to form Global Value Chains with their counterparts in Commonwealth member countries and help expand intra-Commonwealth trade and investment.

Over 500 delegates are expected to participate in the Summit which would include Business to Business platforms and four distinct platforms for Policy Makers, Technology, Innovation and Media.  

The Commonwealth SME Association is a joint initiative of the Commonwealth Secretariat, London and India’s three premier industry bodies FICCI, CII and Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME).

Dr. Rashmi Banga, Head, Trade Competitiveness, Commonwealth Secretariat, London, and the key architect of the ICSA platform said that the Association could play a critical role in developing and strengthening of India’s global value chains by linking SMEs from Commonwealth.

The association also aims to help bridge trade information gaps by forming linkages between India and LDCs.

During the second meeting of Advisory Board of ICSA convened in New Delhi on 8th Nov 2016, the board members finalized the concept note as a guide for ICSA. The Board had also approved the initiation of process of registration of ICSA and organization of two B2B meetings in 2017- one in India and another one in Kenya later. (KNN Bureau)