Tax rationalization and simplification key to MSME progress, says Gen. (Dr.) V.K. Singh

“The 7^th Global Economic Summit is timely as it provides a good platform to assess the state of play with respect to Indian Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the global value chain. In India, MSME sector has recorded an annual growth of more than 10% over the past few years. It is crucial to rationalize and simplify taxes for MSMEs as they account for almost 99% of companies filing tax returns in India,” said Gen. (Dr.) V.K. Singh (Retd.), Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India at the 7^th Global Economic Summit on ‘Global Value Chains: Accelerating MSME Growth, Development and Sustainability’ at a Summit jointly organised by World Trade Centre Mumbai and All India Association of Industries (AIAI).   

Gen. (Dr.) V.K. Singh further said, “Government of India is focusing on two key areas – enabling MSMEs to make more high value products and ensuring they have timely and adequate access to credit and funds. Government of India has signed Memorandum of Understandings with 18 countries for co-operation in MSME sector, which shall help exports from this sector.”

Gen. (Dr.) V.K. Singh further pointed out, “This is the age of specializations. Business organizations from different countries must collaborate to create synergy in their supply chain and thereby create value. Even though North Eastern states of India produce as much quantity of Pineapple as Philippines, he quantity of Pineapple processed and exported is hardly 15% of that in Philippines. MSMEs in India must adopt latest technology for value added processing. Besides this, other commodities such as banana can have potential for value addition.”

The 3-day Global Economic Summit (February 22-24, 2018) received overwhelming response from more than 100 business and government delegates from 30 countries and 280 delegates from India.

In his Special Address, Shri. Jayakumar Rawal, Hon’ble Minister, Employment Guarantee Scheme and Tourism Development, Government of Maharashtra said, “The High Profile Magnetic Maharashtra witnessed signing of Memorandum of Understandings worth Rs 12 lakh crore. The world is a global village and this Summit of WTC Mumbai and AIAI is timely after Magnetic Maharashtra. I am very happy to see the response to the Summit. MSMEs and MSME clusters need support of Maharashtra government, which is doing a lot to improve infrastructure. The world thinks India is a place to manufacture. India is leading in artificial intelligence as well. CEOs of top global information technology companies are from India. The new government in India has stopped red tapism and started offering red carpet. In the next three years, we can see hyperloop coming to Maharashtra. One of the biggest industries in the world is tourism supporting a lot of people. Like we have Incredible India, we have ‘Unlimited Maharashtra’. Dolphins to tigers, we have them all in Maharashtra. We have five world heritage sights. We have strong airport and highway connectivity to support tourism in Maharashtra.”

In his address, Shri. Prafulla Samal, Hon’ble Minister for Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Women & Child Development & (Mission Shakti), Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Government of Odisha said, “Odisha government has been working hard in the last two decades to convert its potential into tangible gains keeping in mind the sustainability as well as equity dimensions. In 2008, Odisha government introduced a dedicated policy for MSME sector mandating large industries to develop an MSME park over a certain percentage of land allocated to it. MSMEs in India have emerged as a competent sector and key contributor to the growth of the economy with 40% share in exports and 45% share in manufacturing. The State of Odisha has a strong MSME sector and a conducive environment for innovation and entrepreneurship. Our Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha has envisaged the state to be the preferred choice of investment for foreign and domestic investors. I invite all the delegates to participate at the 6^th Annual MSME International Trade Fair scheduled from March 5-10, 2018 at ITPO Bhubaneshwar.”

Delivering the welcome address for the session, Mr. Kamal Morarka, Chairman, World Trade Centre Mumbai said, “In the next 10-15 years, Indian economy will witness tremendous growth. India is an excellent place to do business as the country has the advantage of demographic dividend, freedom of press, independent judiciary and policy continuity. Since the year 1991, India has had seven Prime Ministers. However, there is stability and predictability in government policy. I hope the 7^th Global Economic Summit will generate useful business leads for the participating delegates and generate more investment in the country.”

Mr. Vijay Kalantri, President, All India Association of Industries (AIAI), Vice Chairman, World Trade Centre Mumbai and Director, WTCA Board, N.Y. proposed vote of thanks for the session.

During the Session, distinguished guests released the MVIRDC WTC Mumbai Research Study ‘Accelerating Maharashtra’s Export Competitiveness’, which provides a comparative analysis of Maharashtra’s export performance vis-à-vis other states and offers actionable policy recommendations to enhance export from Maharashtra. The Session also witnessed the release of ‘India MSME Report 2017’.

The Session also featured felicitation of reputed companies such as Mumbai International Airport Ltd –GVK, PSA Advisors and start-up enterprise Neogrowth, Global Express Multilogistics, iLoanz, Thinkph, Imaginarium for their extraordinary contribution to value chain through logistics, finance, innovation and other services.

The 3-day Summit includes intellectually stimulating panel sessions, case presentations, exhibition, B2B meetings, felicitation of outstanding business organizations, knowledge workshops and field visit.

On February 22, 2018, the inaugural Session of the Summit was attended by Ambassadors, Consul Generals and other top officials of government, representatives from multilateral agencies, MSMEs, corporate houses, trade promotion organizations and academic institutions.