Odisha MSMEs to get KOICA push

BHUBANESWAR: International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) have evinced interest to set up a mechanism for improving entrepreneurial skills of MSMEs and startups to improve their business sustainability and enhance competitiveness.
A delegation of KOICA led by its director Sang Hoon Jung and Senior Sustainable Enterprise

Development Specialist of ILO Kelvin Sergeant met Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi here on Thursday. The ILO officials proposed capacity building of Startup Odisha and District Industries Centres (DICs) for upscaling innovation, startups and new generation entrepreneurship.

The KOICA team expressed interest to assist the Skilled Odisha initiative, especially in areas of beauty and wellness, mechatronics and engineering. The possibility of facilitating exchange visits of industry associations of Odisha and Korea for B2B interaction and participation of MSMEs of the State and Korea in their respective international trade fairs including Invest Odisha were also discussed.

The Chief Secretary appreciated the initiative and said partnership for development of startups and MSME sector is a welcome move as MSMEs are the main source of employment generation. Earlier, the delegation had met Chairman of Odisha Skill Development Authority (OSDA) Subroto Bagchi and appreciated the ‘Skilled in Odisha Initiative’ of the State.

Bagchi said the growth of skilled manpower and development of MSMEs are interlinked. Any partnership for development of MSMEs must include upgradation of skilling capabilities, he added.

The ILO-KOICA delegation also held discussions with Additional Chief Secretary of MSME department LN Gupta who showcased the progress Odisha has made in food processing, chemical and petrochemicals, textiles and apparel, electronics manufacturing and tourism. Korea has expertise in IT, electronics, hardware systems, renewable and food processing sectors.

The delegation was also apprised of the fast growing startup ecosystem in the State.It was also proposed to facilitate collaboration between Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (IED) and Korea Small Business Institute for conducting quality entrepreneurship programme for MSMEs and startups.