India seeks to provide MSMEs access to govt buying of different countries

India is looking at ways such as free trade agreements to enable domestic MSMEs to participate in public procurement of different countries, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Monday.

He said that 10-15 per cent of the GDP of any country accounts for public procurement, which could be around USD 10-15 trillion in value terms.

Several countries give preference to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in their public procurement.

"In fact, there are various ways by which countries promote MSMEs, we also promote them in India in the sense that we give them special purchase preference.

"As more and more FTAs (free trade agreements) are getting signed...we are also looking at...how MSMEs...can have access to public procurement of different countries, so (that) Indian companies may get an opportunity... MSMEs from other countries can get access to our portal," Barthwal said here at an event.

Under the India-UAE free trade pact, government procurement contracts worth over Rs 200 crore are open to UAE-based firms on the same terms as Indian firms.

The government procurement chapter is also under negotiations in the proposed India-UK trade pact.

The secretary also said that integration of MSMEs in the global supply chains would be important for global trade.

Further, he said, "70 per cent of global trade happens through these chains...so a lot of opportunities are there.