SL at centre stage in SAARC SME Forum

The Tamil Nadu Small Industries Association and Friedrich Naumann Stiftung Fur die Freiheit (FNF) Germany is staging the 2010 SAARC conference on the theme ‘Evolving a SME Policy for SAARC Countries’.

It has invited a high-powered, private-public sector delegation from Sri Lanka to share their learnings this year in India on 28 and 29 October 2010.

The Chief Guest will be Sri Lanka’s Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishard Bathiudeen, who is driving the SME sector with industry-led strategies focusing on developing industrial estates in Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan delegation picked by India includes President of the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and industry stalwart Kosala Wickramanayake, whilst the Sri Lankan SME scenario will be presented by Board Director for EDB/IDB and task force member of the Industrial Development Strategy for Sri Lanka Rohantha Athukorala.

The objective of this year’s conference is to identify obstacles faced by SMEs in exporting within the SAARC region and to sensitise the stakeholders(Government and policymakers) about the need for promoting SMEs at regional level and to initiate discussions for a regional policy on SMEs given the low intra regional trade that is currently at play.

Other key speakers at the forum will be SME specialists from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Bhutan and Nepal, including the great D.E. Ramakrishnan, President of the National Confederation of Small Industry in India, Ayesha Zaheer, Vice Chairperson SAARC Chamber Women Entrepreneurs, Pakistan and Gopal Tiwari, CEO Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises, Nepal.