Indian MSMEs, start-ups lack access to EU: French Consultant

Hyderabad, June 21 (KNN) In comparison to big companies, India’s startups and MSMEs are few in numbers that have entered the European Union (EU) market, said a French consulting firm.

Matthieu Lebeurre, Partner, TNP-Industry, Data Science and Analytics, TNP India and Guillaume Kerbrat, Director Associate-Automotive and New Mobility, TNP Consultants France said that around 130 Indian companies have their facilities in France, however MSMEs and start-ups are few in numbers with insufficient access to the bloc.

This was discussed at a session organised by the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IFCCI) on ‘Market entry to France for understanding how Indian companies can enter the French market’.

The event was held on Tuesday in Hyderabad, in collaboration with TNP India, a French Consulting firm and World Trade Center Shamshabad.

“Bharat Biotech from Hyderabad is one of the successful Indian companies present in France. But, we have seen that the number of startups and MSMEs lag behind in getting access to the EU. If an enterprise serving under B2C enters the EU, it will have access to more than 500 million customers with good spending power,” Lebeurre said.

Europe is supposed to be the largest consumer market, bigger than that of the US and China, he claimed.

According to the official, the enterprises working in the defence sector would have to partner with local companies in France so as to not endure the regulations in place, but companies in sustainability, smart energy, information technology (IT), pharma and even food processing will have faster access to the market.

He further said, “France has a dense start-up ecosystem. The country has invested heavily into research and development creating a favourable environment for Indian companies involved in tech driven industries such as IT, biotech, renewable energy and aerospace.”

Comparing the start-up ecosystem with that of France, Lebeurre said that their country has multiple incubators like T-Hub, and efforts are put into collaborating them with the companies.

On a question, he commented that the paperwork for investing in France moves faster than that in case of India.  (KNN Bureau)