Dimapur, March 25: A publicity and awareness programme on cold storage for MSME units and export aspects was organized by the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Emprises, Government of India, here at Hotel Saramati, Dimapur on Friday which was attended by young aspiring entrepreneurs and representatives from the business community among others.
Speaking as the chief guest on the occasion, Director of National Institute of Technology, Nagaland S. Venugopal stated that doing business has to do more with the mindset and not investment and added that Nagaland has a good potential.
He, however, stressed on the necessity of products being standard and encouraged the attendants to make use of NIT’s labs for product development.
He also noted that in Nagaland there is a lack of after sale service after equipments like the cold storage are dumped and maintained that the suppliers should take the responsibility of the same.
President of Business Association of Nagas (BAN) Mongkum Jamir, who was one of the guests of honour during the event, advised the Naga entrepreneurs to not try to become rich overnight or compromise with the quality of product or services.
Urging the young entrepreneurs to be financially literate as the lack of it leads to failure of businesses, Jamir mentioned that Nagaland has one of the lowest CD ratios in the country, and this is worst in respect to the private banks in the state that are taking deposits but not giving advances. He therefore called upon the banks to finance the genuine entrepreneurs in the state, while maintaining that more than finance, the state needs infra.
Claiming that the issue of multiple taxation in the state has subsided, he said that the fight however will go on and warned the entrepreneurs at the same time that they should not resort to unethical business practices as in that case BAN would be the first one to stand against.
Abhinash Hembrom, AGM SBI, RBO Dimapur who was also a guest of honour, revealed in his remark that in the MSME sector in Nagaland, banks have extended more than Rs 1,000 crores among more than 20,000 beneficiaries. He, however, added that it has been seen that most of the time in the MSME sector, projects are undertaken for the sustainability of individuals or families, but there is a need to think of it for a long term and explore other areas.
Mentioning that production is there in the state but people don’t see beyond the local markets, he encouraged the entrepreneurs to make products that meet international standards, think how others marker their products and how to make the products more competitive so that they reach the right customers, deliver the right products, and get the right price.
Earlier, a brief introduction about the sector was given by Joint Director of MSME- DI Dimapur Tali Longchar.
(Page News Service)
