DGFT to Enhance Collaboration with Private Players to Boost MSME Participation in Exports

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) will actively collaborate with several private players in the country to enhance the participation of micro, medium and small enterprises (MSMEs) in exports. The Forum for Internet Retailers, Sellers & Traders (FIRST India) and India SME Forum (ISF) hosted a stakeholder roundtable with key officials from the DGFT today. During the meeting, it was acknowledged that there is a need to establish over 100 export hubs and engage more private players to tackle key challenges faced by Indian MSMEs in international trade.

"We invite leading industry players to collaborate with us in developing educational content on critical topics, including logistics, warehousing, packaging and labelling, to extend the nationwide outreach and create a meaningful impact," said Moin Afaque, Joint DGFT.

DGFT has been collaborating with platforms like Amazon and DHL, and it plans to boost MSME exports through the "District as Export Hubs" initiative.  In recent months, DGFT signed MoUs with DHL to train MSMEs across 76 districts and with Amazon to provide export training in 20 districts. Logistics firm Shiprocket has also signed MoUs with DGFT to set up a capacity-building programme across 16 districts. These partnerships focus on capacity building and workshops to make Indian MSMEs export-ready.

Acknowledging the need to establish 100 export hubs, Afaque mentioned, “The insightful ideas shared, particularly on capacity building for e-commerce exports, incentives and technology interventions, have been invaluable, and we look forward to exploring these concepts to further enhance our cross-border e-commerce capabilities.”

During the discussions, the representatives of the MSMEs in India have put forward some recommendations in terms of export policy framework, aggregate reconciliation model, and payment structures to ensure better participation of MSMEs in exports. Some of the recommendations include having provisions for small-value bills that should be simplified and directly reported to the Export Data Processing and Monitoring System (EDPMS), a quarterly aggregate reconciliation to be allowed without the 25 per cent variance cap and many more.

In recent times, the Ministry of Commerce has been taking various initiatives like the Trade Connect Portal and Exim Pathshala to enhance the participation of MSMEs in India’s trade.  Earlier this year, the government announced that it plans to establish E-commerce Export Hubs (ECEHs) to streamline and boost e-commerce exports, particularly for MSMEs. This initiative aims to tackle key challenges by simplifying cross-border transactions, reducing compliance burdens, and driving growth in international markets.