New Delhi, June 2 (IANS) India and South Africa explored opportunities to strengthen cooperation and collaboration in the MSME sector, recognising its vital role in economic growth, employment generation, and inclusive development, the government has said.

According to an official statement, both sides discussed potential areas of cooperation, including enhancing access to finance, promoting enterprise formalisation, accelerating digitalisation, strengthening entrepreneurship and skilling in MSME development.

The meeting was held in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), led by MSME Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, with a delegation from South Africa led by Minister of Small Business Development, Stella Tembisa Ndabeni.

The meeting reflected shared commitment of India and South Africa to deepen bilateral engagement and foster a supportive ecosystem for the growth and competitiveness of MSMEs in both countries, the statement added.

Meanwhile, there is a need for a multi-pronged approach to bridge the technology divide through greater digital inclusion, stronger innovation capabilities, and improved technology readiness of MSMEs to support their integration into regional and global value chains.

This was conveyed at the second ‘SME Working Group Meeting’ by the Ministry of MSME under the ‘BRICS Partnership on the New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR)’ here. The meeting saw active participation from BRICS Member Countries and provided a platform for sharing experiences and best practices, while underscoring the role of MSMEs in economic growth, employment generation, innovation, and inclusive development.

“Discussions highlighted the need for a multi-pronged approach to bridge the technology divide through greater digital inclusion, stronger innovation capabilities, and improved technology readiness of MSMEs to support their integration into regional and global value chains,” according to an earlier statement.

The meet also reiterated the importance of deeper collaboration among BRICS economies in technology access, innovation ecosystems, and skills development for MSMEs.

The deliberations enabled valuable policy exchange among countries facing similar developmental challenges and reinforced the shared commitment to building resilient, inclusive, and globally competitive MSME sectors across BRICS economies.

—IANS

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