Mumbai, Jul 2 (KNN) The COVID-19 pandemic has hindered the growth of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and brought economy to a standstill but the same could also accelerate MSMEs in the coming days, said Rashesh Shah, Chairman & CEO, Edelweiss Group. 

While celebrating its third consecutive edition of International MSME Day through a virtual webinar called  ‘MSMEs: New Heroes in the New Normal!’ comprising a panel of industry experts, Shah stated, ''The last 4-5 years have been truly transformative for MSMEs, with the introduction of GST, the India stack and formalisation of the sector and economy. COVID-19 has impacted the MSMEs but it could also potentially be a trend accelerator for the business.''

''The pandemic is opening up fresh opportunities for businesses to script better stories of success. The current economic condition is an opportunity to recalibrate, retest and most importantly repivot. We need to view the current context and the India story with a bi-focal lens, one that balances these short-term challenges, with the long-term opportunity,” he added.

Shah further went on saying that the current situation has posed several challenges to the spirit of entrepreneurship and survival of business in the long-run and getting payments from clients, remain the top two concerns for SMEs and retail businesses.

The webinar sought to acknowledge the contribution of MSMEs in light of current challenges, while leveraging this as a platform to share insights and expertise on what to expect in the near future and thrive, in the new normal that awaits us. 

Deepak Mittal, CEO Credit, Edelweiss Group, said that MSMEs should seize this opportunity to reconnect with their customers and rethink their proposition.

“MSMEs are realising that business models will need tweaking, be it in delivery or servicing, in demand aggregation or in digitizing payments. Reinvention and reimagination, have now changed in their definition. This is a time to be nimble and MSMEs can be far quicker, to leverage emerging opportunities vis-à-vis larger enterprises,” he asserted.