New Delhi, June 1 (KNN) The second Intra Commonwealth Summit held in Nairobi, a first in Africa, proved a big draw attracting over 200 Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) from 22 countries.

Hosted by Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives, Government of Kenya and supported by the Commonwealth (London), the SME Summit was organized by Intra-Commonwealth SME Association (ICSA) from 28 to 29 May 2019 in capital city Nairobi, Kenya.  

While inaugurating the Summit the Rt. Hon Patricia Scotland QC, Secretary General of the Commonwealth informed that intra-commonwealth trade was expanding rapidly because of remarkable similarities between business and regulatory environment in Commonwealth countries which reduced transaction cost. Intra-Commonwealth trade was set to cross US$ 2 trillion by 2030.  

Federation of Indian Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME) sent a 12 member delegation led by Mr. Mohan Suresh past President of FISME and Hon. Counsellor of Rwanda in Bangalore.

Government of India was represented by Mr. Shantanu Mitra, Additional Development Commissioner.

Besides holding discussions on access to Finance and emerging issues in E-Commerce Digital inclusion, Business to business meetings proved very popular among participants.

In the meeting of the Advisory Board of ICSA held on the sidelines of the SME Summit, Mr. Anil Bhardwaj was elected Chairman of the Advisory Board.

Realizing the potential of trade among SMEs within 53 member Commonwealth countries, a lot of interest was seen among developing countries for hosting such summits.  Countries are competing to host next SME Summit. 

Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Government of India hosted the first SME Summit in 2017.