A two-day national conference on “Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises: The “Engine of Indian Economy”, organised by the Department of Analytical and Applied Economics of Utkal University here, began on Friday.
More than 200 participants from MSME sector as well as academia attended and deliberated on the potentials of MSME sector as a growth driver in the coming years.
The inaugural session started with the welcome address by Head of AA Economics Dr Himanshu Sekhar Rout. The theme of the conference was proposed by Dr Mitali Chinara, orgnising secretary of the conference.
Addressing the gathering, Member Coir Board, Government of India and former MlA Baidhar Mallik said, “The MSME sector seems to be the only sector today that can provide gainful and dignified employment to young mass of the State and called for
engaging in the pursuit for self employment and Make in India campaign.”
Former MP and Chairman of Coir Board of India CP Radhakrishnan highlighted the technological challenges faced by the Indian MSME sector and highlighted some of the recent activities of the board in collaborating with Australian tech-firms for making coir products vibrant and activities of the coir sector sustainable.
Utkal University VC Prof Asoka K Das highlighted the efforts of the students towards research in speedy breaking of coir into compost and many other innovative efforts. He also called for a joint research programme with Coir Board.
He lamented on the fact that most of the recent programmes for MSMEs tend to ignore the micro sector and therefore some of the truly enterprising professionals fail to get an opportunity for realization of their dreams.
Dr Siba Sankar Mohanty proposed vote of thanks.