Sh. Upkar Singh Ahuja, General Secretary, CICU while welcoming the dignitaries informed that the main objective of this program is to achieve excellence in sales via E-commerce assistance available for expanding business like manufacturing, trading services through Digital Empowerment escalating to new Geographical region of customers. E-commerce is must for MSMEs if they want to compete in the global market. There is a need to change the mindset of the leaders in this scenario. Industrial units should make business plans and use modern tools for Global Sourcing. Mr. Chandra Mohan, DGM, SIDBI said that the CICU and ShopClues were present to support and create awareness about the significance of digitisation in the MSME sector as it is the prime driver in India’s economic growth. A panel discussion on ‘Facilitating a Digital Competitive Ecosystem of MSMEs’ was also conducted for the attending merchants focusing on how digital advancement can help MSMEs sustain in the competitive environment. These merchants retail across categories like Home & Furnishing, Fashion & Lifestyle, and Industrial Goods etc. Mr. Kamal Singh, Deputy Director, MSME-DI Ludhiana said, “MSMEs constitute over 80% of the Indian retail sector, and, with proper training and guidance, they are capable of revolutionising the future of our country. In the massive and dynamic space of retail business in India, only a small percentage has gone online so far. ShopClues, with their merchant-focus, has pushed for economic inclusion through the creation of a level-playing field for MSMEs. He also congratulates Chamber and ShopClues for coming forward to help MSMEs for this initiative.” Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ganesh Balakrishnan, VP Merchant Ecosystem, ShopClues said, “Ludhiana has always been known to have one of the best business environments in India. MSMEs in the Lifestyle domain, producers of household appliances, hosiery and apparel, industrial goods, machine parts, and auto parts have been its major contributors. This program was to further empower MSMEs and bring them into the economic mainstream of the country. We are confident that the MSME community will benefit from this initiative, establish their digital identity, and digitize billing and payments. He thanked CICU and MSME –DI for their support for SAARTHI.” The vote of thanks was presented by Sh. Harsimjit Singh, joint Secretary of the Chamber and S/Sh. Pankaj Sharma, Vinod Thapar, Rajneesh Ahuja, Didarjit Singh, Shasheesh Saini, Honey Sethi, Ajit Lakra, , O.P Bassi, Kanish Kaura, Jatinder Pal Singh, Vinod Thapar, Phuman Singh, , Sham Gupta, S.S Bedi, S.B Singh, Rajneesh Bansal were also present.
