WTD Kolhapur Stresses on local MSME into GVCs

A workshop on international marketing was organised by World Trade Center (WTC) Mumbai in association with Department of Industries, Government of Maharashtra and the Kolhapur Chamber of Commerce & Industries on June 18, 2019. The workshop was part of the third edition of the Center’s flagship event World Trade Day (WTD) Maharashtra to spearhead a state-wide awareness campaign on skill development to enhance the global competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The workshop focused on key skills such as international marketing, quality certification, export costing and pricing among others. Experts on international marketing imparted critical skills required for venturing into the international market.

According to a finding by World Trade Center Mumbai, Kolhapur has untapped potential for employment creation and global value chain integration in sectors such as textile, leather, engineering and agro-processing in Kolhapur. Almost 80% of micro and small enterprises in Kolhapur are engaged in agro processing and cotton textile industries.
Emphasising on the export potential in Kolhapur, Mr. A. O. Kuruvila, Advisor – Trade and Education, WTC Mumbai, welcomed the participants and explained the underlining objective of organizing such sessions. He also mentioned that similar sessions are planned in other key cities like Nashik, Amaravati, Jalgaon, Solapur & Palghar. Mr. Kuruvila introduced the concept of WTD and its objective. He said that WTD would help MSMEs in building knowledge and confidence in entrepreneurship.

Mr. Arvind Khedker a senior faculty WTC Mumbai Institute conducted the workshop. He said that balance of trade (BOT), which is an indication of forex inflow and outflow is a major issue of the economy. “Our Balance of Payment (BOP) may be overtly comfortable (because of strong inflow of foreign capital), but BOT is an issue as our imports far exceeds exports. India's foreign trade policy aims at improving BOT at micro level of a firm so when aggregated, it may help towards achieving positive BOT.”

Mr. Khedker further explained, “India needs to promote exports aggressively in the background of trade competition and political issues relating to tariff and non tariff barriers. The training we impart is to encourage industries to export good quality products at competitive prices by enhancing their competence with thorough knowledge of all aspects of international trade.”

Mr. Varun Chulate, Senior Executive Officer, EEPC India elaborated on the specifics of markets for engineering products, existing and unexplored markets and specific schemes available to enter in to these markets.

In photo

Mr. Arvind Khedker conducting the workshop.