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President's Message
The mood of the country seems to be oscillating between having the worst fears about the economy and unshakable optimism about strengths of India. However, facts are increasingly pointing out to a crisis at hand. And a crisis may be just right moment, to unleash unpalatable reforms which could make the Indian economy stronger in medium and long term. The Government is in listening mode which is always an important condition to generate good ideas. But the temptation of officials ‘to do something’ quickly and go for ‘low hanging fruits’ needs to be guarded against. With palliatives we might waste the crisis only the pains to return sooner than later. Secondly, while the industry associations are genuine messengers of pains their members face, they do not always have a nuanced understanding of ‘why’ and the causes of difficulties industries face. As a country we need to spend much more resources on research and hiring experts. Unfortunately, the policy circles seem to harbour a deep disdain for both of them. It’s time to junk these prejudices and seek expert advice from all over the world. And armed with facts, we engage industry to strategise the next course.
"
A trend that has begun slowly is gaining ground. Large number of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) from South Korea are finding Indian market just right to set-up base here. “There are already over 400 South Korean SMEs operating in India and number of going to rise as they find right partners in India," says Y.K. Lee Chairman of Korean Small and Medium Enterprises Association in India (KOSMA)- an association of Korean SMEs who have set up companies in India.
KOSMA inked MoU with India’s largest MSME body- Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) today to help Indian and South Korean SMEs to find partners and hand hold them to set up Joint Ventures.
The world today is powered by influential entrepreneurs - Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and our very own Sachin Bansal, Kunal Shah and Bhavish Aggarwal - people who are defining the dreams and aspirations and outlining potential success parameters for the new generation. While there isn’t any ideal personality for an entrepreneur, the following traits can be identified among those who have been very successful:
India’s gross domestic product grew 5% between April-June, the lowest quarterly growth rate recorded in six years. The April-June growth rate fell well below economist forecasts. Also, the growth rate has now dipped for five successive quarters. What caused this slowdown? A broad-based cyclical downturn, concluded the Reserve Bank of India. Its prescription for a cyclical downturn is a countercyclical approach. In addition, it has recommended structural...
In a bid to curb cheaper imports of certain refined palm oil from Malaysia, the Commerce and Industry Ministry has recommended raising the safeguard duty by 5%.
The ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies has recommended the duty after conducting a probe into alleged jump in imports of “refined bleached deodorised palmolein and refined bleached deodorised palm oil” from Malaysia, following a complaint from Solvent Extractors' Association of India.
The government has banned the import of polymethyl methacrylate, with effect from September 1, commerce and industry ministry said in a notification. Polymethyl methacrylate is a shatterproof replacement for glass.
"Import policy of polymethyl methacrylate is revised from free to prohibited with effect from September 1 this year," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.
India has sought a removal of restrictions on trade of products made of sheesham wood under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) citing its abundant availability in the country.
The Dalbergia genus species, around 200 in total including sheesham and rosewood, was enlisted in the Appendix-II of the CITES in 2016. Items falling under Appendix-II are subject to trade restrictions to check over-utilisation. “The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has submitted a proposal to CITES for delisting of Dalbergia sissoo from Appendix-II of CITES, which restricts trade of items made of sheesham wood,” the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) said in a statement.
In a bid to enable and empower the early stage investment ecosystem in the state of Telangana, startup incubator T-Hub announced the launch of its new funding program T-Angel.
T-Angel program is an initiative of the Government of Telangana and T-Hub to support early stage startups. Under the T-Angel program, T-Hub would organize various initiatives to support early stage startups to get investment-ready while also enabling high net worth individuals and startup enthusiasts to explore angel investment as an asset class.
Government e Marketplace (GeM) and SIDBI have signed a pact under which they will enable promotion of special initiatives of GeM like Womaniya and Start-up Runway with SIDBI stakeholders and will also take steps to ensure payments within a guaranteed timeframe to sellers.
“GeM, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry has signed an MoU with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to benefit MSMEs, women entrepreneurs, Self Help Groups (SHGs), Women Self Help Groups and various loan beneficiaries under MUDRA and Stand-up India scheme,” said an official release.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a press conference to address various issues with regard to economic slowdown and measures to be taken to tackle the same.
The government will amend the MSME Act to have a single definition for MSMEs. These changes in the act will be taken up by the Cabinet soon. A single definition would serve the MSMEs now but not on the basis of turnover but also on things like plant machinery, Sitharaman said.
The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) is planning to launch an e-inspection system, a step towards improving ease of doing business in India.
EPFO Commission Sunil Barthwal said the central provident fund organization will launch an e-inspection system that will simplify inspection process and ensure organisations with open communications will not be subject to physical inspection until absolutely necessary.
The Himachal Pradesh Government has notified the Himachal Pradesh Industrial Investment Development Policy 2019 under which slew of incentives will be given to new and existing industries. The new policy also has several announcements for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector such as access to finance, provision of land allotment at concessional rate, easy payment schedule of land premium, etc.
The Himachal Pradesh Investment Development Policy 2019 aims at speeding up economic development and creating more jobs.
Karnataka Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar has proposed uniform land prices for industries to promote ease of doing business in state.
While reviewing the Commerce & Industries Department, Shettar asked officials to study what Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh has done on this front. In addition, he also directed the officials to come out with clear guidelines on allotment of industrial land in other districts.
He further noted that the several small industries in the state faced crisis.
“Stringent rules and uncertain economic atmosphere have forced investors to hesitate in funding new small industries”, added Shettar.
Assam Industry and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary urged the Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MoS MSME) Pratap Chandra Sarangi to enhance the Centre and State’s funding ratio to 90:10 from the present ratio of 80:20 and increase the amount for infrastructure development in MSME sector from Rs 10 crore to Rs 20 crore for Assam.
Patowary said the MSME is a dominant sector in the industrial scenario of Assam. It contributes maximum employment generation with minimum capital and is a major contributor to the state’s economic growth.
The Punjab Government has lifted the ban from the dyeing units in as many as five industrial clusters in Ludhiana.
The District Disaster Management Authority of Ludhiana on the recommendation of the Municipal Corporation Commission had called to close these industries as water discharging from these units were reversing the flow of Buddah Nullah due to which there was severe water logging on the roads of old city.
To promote and help the bamboo industry including Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nagaland, particularly in North Eastern States, Nagaland has proposed to establish an ‘India- Taiwan Bamboo Technical Centre’ at Dimapur, Nagaland.
This was discussed during a meeting between a team from Nagaland led by Jyoti Kalash, Resident Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary, along with Bamboo Mission Team Director Imtirenla and staff, with the Taiwan technical team at Nagaland House, RK Puram, New Delhi on Saturday, a statement informed.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu called the Indian community in Lithuania to serve as a bridge in strengthening economic and cultural relations between the two countries.
Addressing the Indian community at Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania on the second day of his three nation tour to the Baltic region, he said the bilateral trade between the countries was below potential and added that Lithuania could be an important technology partner for India, especially in areas such as lasers, renewable energy, agro-food processing and life sciences.
Is trade suspension by Pakistan will hurt exporters in India?
According to FISME factor 62.5 percent MSMEs thinks that the trade suspension of Pakistan will not hurt exporters in India while 37.5 think it will hurt.
If you look for the definition of ‘listening’ on Google, you will get many versions— ‘give one’s attention to a sound’; ‘take notice of and act on what someone says’; ‘respond to advice or a request’; ‘make an effort to hear something’; ‘be alert and ready to hear something’.
In the corporate world, the act of listening, especially on the part of the employers should be a blend of all the actions suggested in the above definitions.
How to prepare your business for a future recession
Economies around the world periodically go through the cycle of boom and bust. However, the general feeling is that ever since the financial crisis of 2009, the gap between cyclical downturn and growth has shrunk and economic uncertainty is becoming more frequent.
Marketing Strategies to Keep in Mind While Launching in a New Market Location
Launching in a new market place can be challenging, it is the most crucial time for any brand. Expanding your business effectively involves its own fair share of risks, so there has to be a disciplined process, of properly evaluating all the scenarios and growth opportunity. Most entrepreneurs while expanding to a new location face certain challenges such as; insufficient market research, lack of planning & strategy, building the right team, overlooking the need for market strategies, reluctant in taking risks and much more.
MSMEs get a jolt as economic slowdown hits the food sector
The slowdown in the economy has taken the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) also into its fold including the food sector.
Companies like Parle had to cut down their employees by 8 to 10 thousand due to a decrease in consumption. Even, Britannia and Hindustan Unilever also reported a hit in their volumes.
This husband-wife duo is tackling the misinformation problem with their AI-powered startup Unfound News
In the age of information, misinformation rules. Cast your mind back to important world events like the US elections and Brexit, and you’ll recall how they have brought forth the problem of fake news, misinformation, or even misrepresentation of facts.
This young Amritsar businessman quit his 9-5 job and found his true calling in building a textile company
Just six months into a job, Amritsar-based Ujwal Khanna realised that he was not meant to work for someone else. He says, "I was working for nine hours daily, and earning Rs 35,000 per month. I thought I could do much better if I put the same amount of efforts in building my own business." Ujwal, therefore, quit his job and returned to his hometown, Amritsar, and joined his dad's chemical-making business. He, however, soon realised that his true calling was in textiles.
The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released the estimates of Gross Domestic Product(GDP) for the first quarter (April-June) Q1, of 2019-20, both at Constant (2011-12) and Current Prices, along with the corresponding quarterly estimates of expenditure components of the GDP.
FISME regularly receives monthly reports on the economies of various countries from their missions in India. These reports provide information on key economic parameters, trade related information and all news relevant for importers and exporters. In this edition you can take a look at reports on:
Write your comments on the FISME Factor. Share your views and suggestions on MSME issues. Win prize! The best mail will get a special book every fortnight.
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The mood of the country seems to be oscillating between having the worst fears about the economy and unshakable optimism about strengths of India. However, facts are increasingly pointing out to a crisis at hand. And a crisis may be just right moment, to unleash unpalatable reforms which could make the Indian economy stronger in medium and long term. The Government is in listening mode which is always an important condition to generate good ideas. But the temptation of officials ‘to do something’ quickly and go for ‘low hanging fruits’ needs to be guarded against. With palliatives we might waste the crisis only the pains to return sooner than later. Secondly, while the industry associations are genuine messengers of pains their members face, they do not always have a nuanced understanding of ‘why’ and the causes of difficulties industries face. As a country we need to spend much more resources on research and hiring experts. Unfortunately, the policy circles seem to harbour a deep disdain for both of them. It’s time to junk these prejudices and seek expert advice from all over the world. And armed with facts, we engage industry to strategise the next course.
"
A trend that has begun slowly is gaining ground. Large number of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) from South Korea are finding Indian market just right to set-up base here. “There are already over 400 South Korean SMEs operating in India and number of going to rise as they find right partners in India," says Y.K. Lee Chairman of Korean Small and Medium Enterprises Association in India (KOSMA)- an association of Korean SMEs who have set up companies in India.
KOSMA inked MoU with India’s largest MSME body- Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) today to help Indian and South Korean SMEs to find partners and hand hold them to set up Joint Ventures.
The world today is powered by influential entrepreneurs - Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and our very own Sachin Bansal, Kunal Shah and Bhavish Aggarwal - people who are defining the dreams and aspirations and outlining potential success parameters for the new generation. While there isn’t any ideal personality for an entrepreneur, the following traits can be identified among those who have been very successful:
In a bid to curb cheaper imports of certain refined palm oil from Malaysia, the Commerce and Industry Ministry has recommended raising the safeguard duty by 5%.
The ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies has recommended the duty after conducting a probe into alleged jump in imports of “refined bleached deodorised palmolein and refined bleached deodorised palm oil” from Malaysia, following a complaint from Solvent Extractors' Association of India.
The government has banned the import of polymethyl methacrylate, with effect from September 1, commerce and industry ministry said in a notification. Polymethyl methacrylate is a shatterproof replacement for glass.
"Import policy of polymethyl methacrylate is revised from free to prohibited with effect from September 1 this year," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.
India has sought a removal of restrictions on trade of products made of sheesham wood under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) citing its abundant availability in the country.
The Dalbergia genus species, around 200 in total including sheesham and rosewood, was enlisted in the Appendix-II of the CITES in 2016. Items falling under Appendix-II are subject to trade restrictions to check over-utilisation. “The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has submitted a proposal to CITES for delisting of Dalbergia sissoo from Appendix-II of CITES, which restricts trade of items made of sheesham wood,” the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) said in a statement.
In a bid to enable and empower the early stage investment ecosystem in the state of Telangana, startup incubator T-Hub announced the launch of its new funding program T-Angel.
T-Angel program is an initiative of the Government of Telangana and T-Hub to support early stage startups. Under the T-Angel program, T-Hub would organize various initiatives to support early stage startups to get investment-ready while also enabling high net worth individuals and startup enthusiasts to explore angel investment as an asset class.
Government e Marketplace (GeM) and SIDBI have signed a pact under which they will enable promotion of special initiatives of GeM like Womaniya and Start-up Runway with SIDBI stakeholders and will also take steps to ensure payments within a guaranteed timeframe to sellers.
“GeM, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry has signed an MoU with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to benefit MSMEs, women entrepreneurs, Self Help Groups (SHGs), Women Self Help Groups and various loan beneficiaries under MUDRA and Stand-up India scheme,” said an official release.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a press conference to address various issues with regard to economic slowdown and measures to be taken to tackle the same.
The government will amend the MSME Act to have a single definition for MSMEs. These changes in the act will be taken up by the Cabinet soon. A single definition would serve the MSMEs now but not on the basis of turnover but also on things like plant machinery, Sitharaman said.
The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) is planning to launch an e-inspection system, a step towards improving ease of doing business in India.
EPFO Commission Sunil Barthwal said the central provident fund organization will launch an e-inspection system that will simplify inspection process and ensure organisations with open communications will not be subject to physical inspection until absolutely necessary.
The Himachal Pradesh Government has notified the Himachal Pradesh Industrial Investment Development Policy 2019 under which slew of incentives will be given to new and existing industries. The new policy also has several announcements for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector such as access to finance, provision of land allotment at concessional rate, easy payment schedule of land premium, etc.
The Himachal Pradesh Investment Development Policy 2019 aims at speeding up economic development and creating more jobs.
Karnataka Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar has proposed uniform land prices for industries to promote ease of doing business in state.
While reviewing the Commerce & Industries Department, Shettar asked officials to study what Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh has done on this front. In addition, he also directed the officials to come out with clear guidelines on allotment of industrial land in other districts.
He further noted that the several small industries in the state faced crisis.
“Stringent rules and uncertain economic atmosphere have forced investors to hesitate in funding new small industries”, added Shettar.
Assam Industry and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary urged the Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MoS MSME) Pratap Chandra Sarangi to enhance the Centre and State’s funding ratio to 90:10 from the present ratio of 80:20 and increase the amount for infrastructure development in MSME sector from Rs 10 crore to Rs 20 crore for Assam.
Patowary said the MSME is a dominant sector in the industrial scenario of Assam. It contributes maximum employment generation with minimum capital and is a major contributor to the state’s economic growth.
The Punjab Government has lifted the ban from the dyeing units in as many as five industrial clusters in Ludhiana.
The District Disaster Management Authority of Ludhiana on the recommendation of the Municipal Corporation Commission had called to close these industries as water discharging from these units were reversing the flow of Buddah Nullah due to which there was severe water logging on the roads of old city.
To promote and help the bamboo industry including Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nagaland, particularly in North Eastern States, Nagaland has proposed to establish an ‘India- Taiwan Bamboo Technical Centre’ at Dimapur, Nagaland.
This was discussed during a meeting between a team from Nagaland led by Jyoti Kalash, Resident Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary, along with Bamboo Mission Team Director Imtirenla and staff, with the Taiwan technical team at Nagaland House, RK Puram, New Delhi on Saturday, a statement informed.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu called the Indian community in Lithuania to serve as a bridge in strengthening economic and cultural relations between the two countries.
Addressing the Indian community at Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania on the second day of his three nation tour to the Baltic region, he said the bilateral trade between the countries was below potential and added that Lithuania could be an important technology partner for India, especially in areas such as lasers, renewable energy, agro-food processing and life sciences.
According to FISME factor 62.5 percent MSMEs thinks that the trade suspension of Pakistan will not hurt exporters in India while 37.5 think it will hurt. 
If you look for the definition of ‘listening’ on Google, you will get many versions— ‘give one’s attention to a sound’; ‘take notice of and act on what someone says’; ‘respond to advice or a request’; ‘make an effort to hear something’; ‘be alert and ready to hear something’.
In the corporate world, the act of listening, especially on the part of the employers should be a blend of all the actions suggested in the above definitions.
Economies around the world periodically go through the cycle of boom and bust. However, the general feeling is that ever since the financial crisis of 2009, the gap between cyclical downturn and growth has shrunk and economic uncertainty is becoming more frequent.
Launching in a new market place can be challenging, it is the most crucial time for any brand. Expanding your business effectively involves its own fair share of risks, so there has to be a disciplined process, of properly evaluating all the scenarios and growth opportunity. Most entrepreneurs while expanding to a new location face certain challenges such as; insufficient market research, lack of planning & strategy, building the right team, overlooking the need for market strategies, reluctant in taking risks and much more.
The slowdown in the economy has taken the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) also into its fold including the food sector.
Companies like Parle had to cut down their employees by 8 to 10 thousand due to a decrease in consumption. Even, Britannia and Hindustan Unilever also reported a hit in their volumes.
In the age of information, misinformation rules. Cast your mind back to important world events like the US elections and Brexit, and you’ll recall how they have brought forth the problem of fake news, misinformation, or even misrepresentation of facts.
“
Well, I think the golden rule I can think of is the fact that you must follow your passion and do something that’s close to your heart.
”
