New Delhi, June 10 (KNN) The 1^st Commonwealth SME Trade Summit that took place in New Delhi concluded recently following which there are ongoing talks of Kenya to be hosting the next summit scheduled for October next year.

Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed informed about the proposal.

He further said that the 2nd Commonwealth SME Trade Summit will not only provide a forum to actualize existing trade opportunities among Commonwealth member states but also a platform to link Kenyan MSMEs to opportunities in the Regional and Global Value Chains.  The participating MSMEs from the member states will be drawn from the following sectors: Textiles and Apparels, Gems and Jewellery; Leather, Machinery, Agribusiness, Packaging and ICT.

The First summit at New Delhi last month was successfully organized in association with the India –Commonwealth SME Association (ICSA):  a joint initiative of the Commonwealth Secretariat, London and India’s three premier industry bodies: Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and industry (FICCI), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Micro and Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME).

The Summit emerged an important platform for promotion of trade and investment among SMEs of the Commonwealth using a sectoral approach and targeting sectors where SMEs have operational presence at the national or sub-regional level.  It hosted four platforms to link stakeholders who play an important role in enhancing the ecosystem for boosting international trade and investment.

The High-Level Policymakers Platform discussed and adopted proposed interventions from MSMEs on how to deepen cooperation among MSMEs in the Commonwealth.

The outcome of the this platform was a declaration on a Cooperation Framework to support Intra-Commonwealth trade and investment by supporting the provision of greater market access, opportunities for mutual learning, sharing innovations, accessing trade finance and forming partnerships; The other platforms included the Sectoral B2B Meetings Platform, the Technology Platform and Innovation Platform. (KNN/DA)