LEH, Sep 15: A one-day National-Level Workshop on Public Procurement Policy and Vendor Registration, Export Promotion, Quality Certification and GeM Onboarding was organised at the LAHDC Leh Conference Hall.
The workshop was organised by the MSME Development & Facilitation Office (MSME-DFO), Jammu, under the aegis of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India.
Representatives from NSIC, BIS, QCI, KVIC, DGFT, POWERGRID, GeM and IIP participated in the workshop.
Himanshu Gupta, Administrative Secretary, Industries & Commerce Department, UT Ladakh, presided over the inaugural session as Chief Guest. Sonam Norboo, Director, Industries & Commerce, and Tsewang Gyalson, Director, Planning, attended as Guests of Honour.
At the outset, Amit Kumar Tamaria, Joint Director, MSME-DFO, Jammu, welcomed the dignitaries, stakeholders and participants. He outlined the objectives of the workshop and gave an overview of schemes, programmes and initiatives being implemented for the benefit of MSMEs.
He highlighted that MSMEs are an engine of growth and an important backbone of the economy, with a crucial role in achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047. He also sensitised participants about the importance of Udyam Registration for availing benefits under various MSME schemes.
Addressing the participants, Himanshu Gupta highlighted various MSME schemes, including the Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme and PMEGP, aimed at supporting entrepreneurs. He said PMEGP is a popular scheme under which a significant number of entrepreneurs have benefited. He also informed that the UT Administration is exploring the introduction of a credit scheme to provide financial support to aspiring entrepreneurs.
Sonam Norboo advised participants to go through the booklet distributed during the workshop to understand various MSME schemes and identify those suitable to their requirements. He also encouraged entrepreneurs to regularly access official online portals of the MSME Ministry for updates.
Tsewang Gyalson stressed the importance of utilising locally available resources for producing goods within Ladakh. He urged entrepreneurs to explore national and international markets and promote locally produced goods beyond the local market.
The technical sessions covered a wide range of topics, including MSME schemes, public procurement policy, GeM vendor registration, BIS certification, export promotion, ZED certification, packaging, SIDBI schemes and PMEGP financing.
Experts from various organisations delivered presentations on their respective areas. The workshop also covered opportunities for value addition and infrastructure development in products such as pashmina, apricot and seabuckthorn.
The workshop concluded with a vote of thanks delivered by Vinu Jee Kaul, Assistant Director, MSME-DFO, Jammu.
A large number of entrepreneurs, artisans and officers and officials of the Industries & Commerce Department participated in the workshop and interacted with experts on MSME development, procurement, certification, financing and export promotion.