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From left to right: Rajkumar Bidla, Programme Officer from the Secretariat's Youth Affairs Division, Ram Venuprasad, the Secretariat’s Enterprise Development Adviser, Srinivasan Sridhar, Chairman and Managing Director of the Central Bank of India and Namo Narain Meena, Union Minister of State for Finance.

Small businesses learn from successful entrepreneurial experiences in India

24 February 2010

Over half the participants attending Commonwealth programme are women

Policy advisers and businessmen and women from 23 Commonwealth countries are meeting in India this week to learn new ideas and listen to practical experiences in the development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Participants will hear from experts from all regions of the Commonwealth on how best to harness good practices of thriving companies. During the six-day programme, which began on 21 February 2010, they will visit successful Indian businesses such as Jaipur Rugs and Arth Micro Finance.

Access to loans

- During this programme, Namo Narain Meena initiated the Commonwealth-Central Bank of India Youth Enterprise Finance initiative, which is aimed at developing the skills of, and providing accessible and affordable loans to, young entrepreneurs across India.

- This programme will be piloted in India before being rolled out to other Commonwealth countries.

“India today has a vibrant, entrepreneurial society of which MSME is the backbone,” said Namo Narain Meena, Union Minister of State for Finance. “I would venture to claim that one of the competitive advantages of India, in addition to its youth, is the body of entrepreneurs who have been developing the spirit of entrepreneurship.”

This is the tenth such small business development programme since the initiative began in 2004. Since then, representatives from 47 countries have benefited from the expert advice and field visits on offer.

Jaipur is playing host to this latest meeting, during which there will be a special focus on green technologies. The programme is being conducted by the Commonwealth Secretariat, Central Bank of India and Export-Import Bank of India.

“This programme is a unique opportunity to discuss issues pertaining to the areas of sustainable MSME development among Commonwealth countries,” said Srinivasan Sridhar, Chairman and Managing Director of the Central Bank of India. “A collaborative initiative such as this will go a long way in benefiting both India and the rest of the Commonwealth.”