Govt gears up to boost MSME exports from state

Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee government is taking significant measures for promotion of MSME exports from Bengal.

The state Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) department has signed an MoU with Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) and has identified ten sectors with good export potential. The IIFT will provide expert training in these sectors, with the aim to boost MSME exports.

"We have been providing district-wise training to the entrepreneurs in association with Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) for value addition to the products according to the changing market demand. From there, we will be selecting 25 entrepreneurs for a three-day residential training programme to be conducted by IIFT. The first batch of 25 has already undergone the training," a senior official of the MSME department said.

The department has plans to impart the expert training of IIFT to 100 entrepreneurs in a year, following which the department will give them six month handholding support so that they can do some serious export on their own.

The sectors that have been identified to have good potential include jute, foundry, zari and leather to name a few.

The MoU with IIFT was signed at the Digha Business Conclave held on December 11 and 12 in 2019.

The official said that the department is now laying emphasis not only on expert training, but also on packaging. "We are in talks with the Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) who will be offering training twice in a month to those associated with the manufacture of handicraft items, terracotta, etc." he added.

"We will start the training programme in all the districts (two in a month) from the next financial year and after the same, will identify the products that can be value-added with better packaging," said Bidhan Das, deputy director, IIP Kolkata.

The department is also in talks with IIT Kharagpur for technical intervention to boost export potential of various products. The state believes that products like Purulia mask, Sitalpati of Cooch Behar, the mats of Sabang and the different handicrafts of Junglemahal will have a much greater export potential, with some technological intervention and better packaging.

Bengal is the first state to prepare an export strategy and to implement it. The MSME department has taken up a series of new projects to contribute to the development of the socio-economic condition of artisans across the state, by giving them a platform to showcase their handicrafts.