New Delhi [India], July 15 (ANI): The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) held a bilateral meeting on Wednesday at Kartavya Bhawan, New Delhi, with a high-level delegation from the Republic of Poland led by Deputy Minister Michal Baranowski, Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, to explore opportunities for strengthening cooperation in the MSME sector.

Bharat Khera, Secretary, Ministry of MSME, highlighted the pivotal role of India's MSME sector in driving economic growth, employment generation and exports. He noted that India has over 86 million registered MSMEs, contributing nearly 30 per cent to the country's GDP, over one-third of manufacturing output, and nearly half of India's exports, while supporting the livelihoods of around 330 million people.

Secretary also highlighted the Government's initiatives to build globally competitive and future-ready MSMEs through digital transformation, innovation, technology adoption, sustainable manufacturing and improved market access.

He briefed the delegation on key flagship initiatives, including the Udyam Registration Portal, Credit Guarantee Scheme for Micro & Small Enterprises, Technology Centres and Zero Defect Zero Effect (ZED) practices.

Emphasising the growing strategic partnership between India and Poland, the Secretary, MSME, observed that Poland is India's largest trading and investment partner in Central and Eastern Europe. He noted that bilateral trade had grown 3 times since 2025, and expressed confidence that the recently concluded India-European Union Free Trade Agreement would further strengthen trade and investment ties and take the Strategic Partnership between the two countries to another level.

Deputy Minister Michal Baranowski appreciated India's remarkable progress in strengthening its MSME ecosystem and expressed Poland's keen interest in expanding collaboration with India.

He reaffirmed Poland's commitment to deepening institutional partnerships and promoting greater business-to-business engagement between enterprises of both countries.

The discussions also acknowledged the institutional engagement initiated in 2024 between the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) and the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP) to promote cooperation in the MSME sector.

The meeting aimed to strengthen bilateral cooperation between India and Poland in the MSME sector by enhancing collaboration in enterprise development, digital transformation, technology and innovation, market linkages, trade and investment, while facilitating stronger institutional partnerships and greater interaction between the MSME ecosystems of both countries. (ANI)