FISME to play key role in facilitating Korean MSMEs in India; may soon sign MoU with KOSMA
New Delhi. In its bid to prepare turf for the Korean medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs) in India, and to smoothen their entry into the Indian market, Korea has invited India’s apex MSME body – the Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) to play a vital role on this front.
Soon, FISME may enter into an agreement with its Korean counterpart and sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the newly set up Korean Small & Medium Enterprises Association (KOSMA) in India. Y K Lee happens to be the chairman of KOSMA.
Spearheaded by Korean ambassador in India Shin Bong-kil, a crucial dinner meeting to this effect was held at the Embassy of the Republic of South Korea in New Delhi on Thursday evening.
“Korea expects FISME to provide support to the Korean small and medium enterprises in the form of handholding and matchmaking in India in this sector. For this, FISME and KOSMA may soon sign MOU for which next follow up meeting is likely to be called in about two week time when we would work out modalities to this effect,” Animesh Saxena, the president of FISME that represents over 400 small, medium and micro enterprise associations in India, told Asian Community News (ACN) Network.
FIMSE was also represented by its vice president Ravi Sood and central executive committee member Ashutosh Jatia.
“Large Korean companies have financial muscles and they can survive and can do things for themselves on foreign land. But it is very difficult for small companies to set up and run their businesses because of various hurdles such as red-tapism and others. Korea expects FISME to assist Korean MSMEs to set up their factories and business establishments in India, and also help them look for right kind of partners and joint ventures here,” added Saxena.
In 2017, the bilateral trade between India and Korea was registered at US$ 20 billion with investment showing an upward trend. Both the sides have pledged to increase the trade by US$ 50 billion by 2030.
The Thursday dinner meeting was the follow up of the “Korean Self Employed & MSME in India 2019” workshop organized jointly in Gurgaon by Korean Association in India and the Korean Embassy in India on June 7. Korean ambassador was present in that meeting as well.
While commenting on the dinner meeting, E D Park, chairman of the Korean Association in India said, “This is a very successful first step of the newly organized KOSMA. it is now moving to support and entertain all SMEs and start-ups in India as extending their membership, network and encouraging their dialogue among their members. This is a meaningful start for the Korean Community and Korean SME growth in India.”
Besides FISME and KOSME, other organizations that took part in the dinner meeting included Korean Association in India, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), Korea Internationa Trade Association (KITA), Korean Chamber of Commerce & Industry in India (KOCHAM) and Korean Business Startup Facilitation Centre.
Prior to this meeting, KOSMA also held a 2-hour seminar at the embassy for presenting the business case study.
According to Saxena, FISME played a key role in the policy formation on the small and medium enterprises sector in India.
“We represent in almost every committee of the government of India in the MSME sector. We were also present at the pre-budget consultation meeting which the finance minister of India took with the economists and business associations like CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, and others on Wednesday,” he added.
