Bhubaneswar: The delegation of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) led by Mr. Sang Hoon Jung, Director and ILO led by Mr. Kelvin Sergeant, Senior Sustainable Enterprise Development Specialist met Shri A.P. Padhi, Chief Secretary, Odisha today and expressed their interest to set up a mechanism for improving entrepreneurial skills of MSMEs and startups to improve their business sustainability and enhance competitiveness. Chief Secretary appreciated the initiative and stated that MSMEs being the main source of generating employment, partnership for development of Startups and MSME sector is a welcome move. Prior to that, they had met Shri Subroto Bagchi, Chairman, Odisha Skill Development Authority (OSDA) and appreciated the ‘Skilled in Odisha Initiative’ of the state. Mr. Bagchi stated that the growth of skilled manpower and development of MSMEs are interlinked. Hence, any partnership aiming at development of MSMEs should, inter alia, include up-gradation of skilling capabilities. The KOICA delegation expressed their intention to assist the Skilled Odisha Initiative especially, in the area of beauty and wellness, mechatronics and engineering. The ILO-KOICA delegation had a detailed meeting with Shri L.N. Gupta, ACS, MSME, who showcased the development of MSME sector in the state with priority accorded to sectors, namely, Food Processing, Chemical & Petrochemicals, Textiles & Apparel, Electronics Manufacturing and Tourism. They were also apprised about the fast growing startup ecosystem in Odisha. Korea having expertise in sectors like IT, Electronics, hardware systems, renewable and food processing sectors, discussion centred around exchange of startups, incubators and MSMEs working in these areas and upgradation of technology. It was also proposed to facilitate collaboration between Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (IED) and Korea Small Business Institute for conduct of quality entrepreneurship programme for MSMEs and startups. The officials of ILO proposed for capacity building of institutions namely, Startup Odisha and DICs for upscaling innovation, startups and new generation entrepreneurship. The possibility of facilitating exchange visits of Industry Chambers of Odisha and Korea for B2B business interaction & development and participation of Korean MSMEs in Odisha MSME International Trade Fair & Invest Odisha and vice versa were also deliberated.The delegation of KOICA also included Dr. Wooill Sim, Korea Small Business Institute and Mr. Chul Hee Lee, Global Development Cooperation specialist, from ILO Ms. Sudipta Bhadra, Senior Programme Officer, Mr. Kelvin Sergeant, Senior Enterprise Specialist and Ms. Anjana Chellan. Director of Industries, Odisha, MD, OSIC, DEPM Secretary, OK&VIB also participated in the discussion.
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