New Delhi, July 10(IANS) The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector can play a key role in making India a leading electronic manufacturing destination, S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy), said on Wednesday.

In his address at the CII MSME Growth Summit here, he said that this can be achieved by increasing the proportion of domestically manufactured components.

“Manufacturing will play a major role in the structural transformation of the Indian economy and electronics will be an important sector driving this transition. We should enhance domestic value-add in electronics from 18-20 per cent to 35-40 per cent within the next five years,” Krishnan said.

“MSMEs will play a crucial role in this effort and have a huge role to play in electronics components manufacturing.”

He emphasised the huge potential that digitisation holds to be a game changer for the MSME segment. Adoption of technology by smaller players through cluster-based facilities and retrofitting existing facilities are cost-effective ways to go digital for this segment.

Underlining the importance of a digital economy, he said that MeitY is working to assess the size of the digital economy in the country.

Dr Ishita Ganguli Tripathy, Additional Development Commissioner, Ministry of MSME, highlighted that women’s participation in registered MSMEs needs to be increased from 39 per cent. She emphasised leveraging the “7 As” to empower women: availability, accessibility, affordability, awareness, accountability, alliance, and achievement.

She added that educating MSMEs about regulatory requirements and ESG compliances is essential for their sustainable growth.

Government and large enterprises can play an important role in supporting MSMEs and MSMEs must leverage the digital ecosystem, said T Koshy, Managing Director & CEO, Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).

He added that the network is also adding insurance as a new component which will be visible soon.

–IANS

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Hanoi, July 10 (IANS) The number of millionaires in Vietnam virtually doubled between 2013 and 2023, at the fastest rate globally, to 19,400, VnExpress reported Wednesday, citing a new report by British investment migration consultancy Henley & Partners.

The Southeast Asian country has 58 centi-millionaires (those with 100 million U.S. dollars or more in assets) and six billionaires, said Henley & Partners.

The Vietnamese government has set the goal of having at least 10 businesspeople named on the list of the world top U.S. dollar billionaires and five among Asia’s most influential entrepreneurs by 2030, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Wealth Report by Knight Frank, released in March, estimated that Vietnam had approximately 750 ultra-high-net-worth individuals in 2023, a 2.4 per cent increase from 2022. Knight Frank projects that by 2028, the figure will reach around 980, a 30 per cent increase from 2023.

–IANS

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Jaipur, July 10 (IANS) Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Diya Kumari on Wednesday said that the state government is committed to make Rajasthan a $350 million economy.

Counting this resolution amongst the top of 10 resolutions while presenting the budget, she said that the Rajasthan government is committed to making Developed Rajasthan 2047.

Kumari also drew laurels during her budget presentation for reading the couplets of different poets, writers and renowned personalities like Swami Vivakanand, Bhimrao Ambedkar, Viba Bhave, Saint Haridas, Nida Fazli and M.S. Swaminathan in the Assembly.

In the initial phase of the budget, she read a poem by Nida Fazli.

Thereafter, she recalled the lines written by Ambedkar, saying: “The capital of economic progress and social upliftment lies in industrialisation. By increasing industrial development, we can provide employment, reduce poverty and raise the standard of living.”

Further, she quoted Swami Vivekananda while announcing schemes for youth, saying, “Brave, outspoken, clean-hearted, courageous and ambitious youths are the only foundation on which the future nation can be built.”

During the budget speech, the Finance Minister also recalled Bharat Ratna Vinoba Bhave and quoted her lines. “Real progress can be made only when its benefits are available to all and not limited to a few,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.

She also read the lines of Sant Haridas, saying, “I want to remind you of the lines of Sant Haridas ji. Doing Karma is the only religion of human beings.”

During the address of the agriculture budget, she also quoted the pioneer of the Green Revolution M.S. Swaminathan, saying, “Farming is the most risky business in the world because the future of the crop depends on the monsoon.”

The Deputy Chief Minister also read the composition of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 10 (IANS) Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said India will be the 3rd largest economy in the next 3-4 years while the country’s exports would scale the $ 2 trillion export target by 2030.

Addressing the FICCI national executive committee meeting here, Goyal said: “With the rapidly growing start-up India initiative, growing infrastructure, investments in manufacturing which are creating a lot of opportunities for trade, business, jobs and exports. We will be the 3rd largest economy in the next 3-4 years.”

He also observed that the direction in which India was moving forward deeply resonates with what the industry wanted. India has a lot of untapped potential as the country heads towards becoming a global manufacturing hub.

He said that the government was working on getting India into global value chains, creating more and more global capacity centres working out of India so that services exports could be increased further.

“The government along with industry remains deeply committed to achieving $ 2 trillion export target by 2030. It is doable, achievable, with the right building blocks in place along with a strong macro economy to support it,” the minister said.

He asserted that in order to achieve the ‘Viksit Bharat’ vision, the industry has to come forward to collaborate and invest more in R&D, innovation and sustainability.

The government, he added, is in the process of finalising the ‘Jan Vishwas 2.0’. “How can we converge industry’s interest with national goals. A lot more needs to be done but we need you (industry) to come forward and give a balanced view on what is necessary along with the pain points regarding decriminalisation and reducing the compliance burden,” he noted.

Anish Shah, President, FICCI and Group CEO & Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra highlighted the efforts undertaken by the government to make India a manufacturing hub. He also stated that substantial steps have been taken to lower the cost of doing business and improve the ease of doing business.

–IANS

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Vienna, July 10 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chancellor of Austria Karl Nehammer, jointly addressed a group of leading Austrian and Indian CEOs from diverse sectors including infrastructure, automobile, energy, engineering and start-ups on Wednesday.

Both leaders acknowledged the role played by industry leaders in strengthening bilateral relations and promoting economic cooperation between India and Austria.

The leaders noted that trade and investment between the two countries has been increasing over the years and called for realising the full potential of the India-Austria partnership through greater collaboration.

Prime Minister Modi called on the Austrian business stakeholders to look at the fast-unfolding opportunities in India, as the country moves to become the third largest economy in the world over the next few years.

He noted that India had made transformative progress in the last ten years, and would continue on the same path given its strengths of political stability, policy predictability and its reform-oriented economic agenda.

The Prime Minister urged Austrian majors to leverage the Indian economic landscape for high-quality and cost-effective manufacturing under the Make in Inda programme both for the domestic and international market and as a global supply chain destination.

He spoke about India’s Production Linked Incentive scheme to attract global manufacturing companies in the fields of semiconductors, medical devices, and solar PV cells, among others.

He noted that India’s economic strengths and skills and Austrian technology were natural partners for business, growth and sustainability.

He invited Austrian businesses to utilise the investment opportunities in India and be a part of India’s stellar growth story.

He highlighted the steps taken by the government to improve the ease of doing business that was attracting global majors to India.

Talking about Indian economic growth and transformation, he noted India’s success in the field of start-ups, in the creation of next-generation infrastructure, and its commitment to forge ahead on the green agenda.

PM Modi also mentioned that the start-up bridge set up between India and Austria would yield substantial results. He suggested that the two countries should come together and organise a joint hackathon.

He further spoke about the success of Digital Public Infrastructure in the country and measures taken to improve connectivity and logistics.

–IANS

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