H.E. Mr. Stewart Beck, High Commissioner of Canada in India along with his officials called on Shri Virbhadra Singh, Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises on here today.The Minister welcomed the visiting dignitaries and assured full co-operation for the development of MSME sector in both countries. The Minister said that MSME is one of the most important sector contributing to Indian economy. It is because of this that Government has established an exclusive Ministry for overseeing the development of this sector.

H.E. Mr. Stewart Beck, High Commissioner mentioned that there are enormous opportunities in the field of Small and Medium Enterprises for mutual benefits of both the countries. He expressed his desire to collaborate with Indian MSME sector in identified sectors like natural gas, mineral and general engineering sector wherein Canada is strong. He briefly gave the background of Canadian small business sector which is facing similar problems of financing and marketing. He also informed that there is a SME Advisory Committee in Canada which is responsible for giving policy advice to this sector. He suggested that the experience of SME Advisory Committee would be shared with Indian Government.

Secretary (MSME) emphasized that sharing of best experiences between the two countries should be the first step. In addition, he suggested that there should be a follow up meeting to concretize the steps to be taken for structured dialogue for enhancement of dialogues between the MSME sector of the two countries.

Shri Amarendra Sinha, Joint Secretary (SME) and Shri H.P. Kumar, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) were also present.

International MSME collaboration to share advisory experience and pursue structured dialogue for sectoral development and market access Bilateral cooperation on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises is proposed through exchange of best practices and institutional experience, with Canada offering to share its SME Advisory Committee model for policy advice. Indian officials acknowledged common challenges in financing and marketing and agreed to follow-up meetings to concretize steps for a structured dialogue focused on sectoral engagement and sustained policy-level exchanges to enhance SME development and market linkages.