Port Blair, Oct. 17: The (Branch) MSME Development & facilitation Office, Port Blair, Ministry of MSME, GoI organized a one-day National Seminar on Export Promotion, Packaging, GeM Registration Process, Business Opportunities for MSMEs/Artisans at DBRAIT Conference Hall today. Around 150 participants attended the programme. Shri Yogesh Kumar, Assistant Director, Br. MSME-DFO, Port Blair briefed about the objectives of the programme. Shri Siddharth Gupta, Regional Manager, SBI, Port Blair highlighted the various initiatives being implemented by State Bank of India as Lead Bank for MSME sector. He also focused on Government sponsored schemes and flagship schemes for MSME sector like PMEGP, PMFME, Stand Up India& MUDRA yojana.

Shri Amit Sharma, ITS, Dy. DGFT, Kolkata briefed about the role of DGFT and explained the initiatives of Government of India for promotion of export. He explained the Niryat Bandhu Scheme which helps the new and potential exporters and mentors them through orientation programmes, counselling sessions, individual facilitation, etc., for being able to get into international trade and boost exports from India.

Shri O.P. Singh, IEDS, Dy. Director, O/o Development Commissioner (MSME), New Delhi spoke about various new initiatives taken by the Ministry of MSME such as implementation of PM Vishwakarma scheme, Self Reliant India Fund (SRI), Raising & Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP) etc. Shri Surendra Prahaladka, President, ACCI & Shri Girish Arora, Secretary, Laghu Udyog Bharati appreciated the initiatives of MSME department for organizing such programmes in the Island for the benefits of MSMEs & Artisans.

The programme was presided over by Shri D. Mitra, IEDS, Jt. Director, MSME-Development & Facilitation office, Kolkata who explained the various schemes implemented by O/o Development Commissioner (MSME), New Delhi to support MSMEs.  The other officials viz. Shri Bidhan Das, Dy. Director, Indian Institute of Packaging, Kolkata, Shri Manojit Chandra, Superintendent, Foreign Post, GoI, Kolkata, Shri R. Mahadevan, GeM Facilitator, A & N Islands, Shri Ujjawal Dhali, MPEDA also deliberated on the technical session during the event. Shri Goutam Podder & Shri Sudip Paul, Assistant Director, MSME-DFO, Kolkata presented the schemes of Ministry of MSME, GoI.