Kerala is surging towards meeting its target of setting up one lakh MSMEs in the current financial year, with 13,137 enterprises in the micro, small and medium sector already registering in the first two-and-a-half months of FY23, Minister for Law, Industries and Coir P. Rajeeve said on Thursday.

“This has brought in an investment of ₹982.73 crore so far this fiscal, giving employment to 30,698 people,” he said after inaugurating the state government’s three-day ‘Vyapar 2022’ business-to-business meet, setting the stage for 350 entrepreneurs to strike partnerships with 500 buyers from across the country.

Facilitating around 10,000 B2B meetings, the event will boost the administration’s renewed pro-industry measures to project Kerala as a prime business destination before the rest of the country, the Minister said.

Sustained efforts to strengthen MSMEs have led to recruitment of 1,155 interns at the panchayat level to train entrepreneurs. “A chunk of them are MBAs,” he said.

Pointing out that two recent laws have quickened the setting up of MSMEs in Kerala, the minister said KINFRA is working on a permanent exhibition-cum-convention centre in the city. Envisaged to be completed in October 2023, the project is coming up in suburban Kakkanad.

Industries and Commerce Director S. Harikishore, said Kerala was poised to realise its target of giving employment to four lakh people in the MSME sector.

A major objective of Vyapar 2022 is to give an impetus to the pandemic-hit MSME units. The event provides a platform to showcase the quality of their products, technological competence and skills before the industrial community. Besides buyers from top commercial establishments, representatives of all-India trade and commercial organisations, business consortiums, e-commerce executives, exporters and consumers are converging at the conclave.

An expo at the event exhibits the productivity of industry, presenting the products that are branded or otherwise. It also aims to encourage industries to boost their growth profile, kindle the interest of investors and highlight the role of MSMEs in the state’s economic growth.

The focal sectors are food processing (food and spices); handlooms, textiles and garments (fashion design and furnishing products); rubber; coir products; Ayurveda and herbal (cosmetics and nutraceuticals); electrical and electronics; and traditional sectors that include hand-carved goods, handloom textiles and bamboo-based items.

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