“We have already received the said grant from the government of India, ministry of MSME, under international cooperation scheme,” said Kamal Chopra, chairman, international cooperation, AIFMP. He said a distribution ceremony for this grant-in-aid would be organised, where the amount will be distributed to the eligible entrepreneurs who visited the Print Technology Exhibition.

Chopra said under the international cooperation scheme of the government of India, 75 to 85% of the airfare is reimbursed to the eligible registered entrepreneurs possessing EM Part-2 certificate, after following the prescribed procedure of submitting the feedback report and outcome of the visit. “Under this scheme, the entrepreneurs are encouraged to visit overseas exhibitions to learn and understand the latest developments, to increase quality production to withstand the increasing global competition,” Chopra added.

Dev Nair, president, AIFMP, said the group members were interested to find companies to get their work done from India. “In these days of outsourcing, India can become a hub of providing printing and packaging services to the world. We have an excellent potential for export of these services, but there is a need to be cost competitive and leverage our capacities in this sector for this purpose,” he said.

While printing and packaging industry is developing at a very fast pace, India has the advantage of having the largest English-speaking young population, Nair said. “With 12.5% growth per annum, Indian printing and packaging industry can generate phenomenal increase in employment opportunities as well. With the visit, the delegates wanted to know and understand the latest developments in printing and packaging industry, so that it can be implemented here,” he added.

Anand Limaye, HGS, AIFMP, thanked the ministry of MSME for providing such opportunities for the overall development of the SMEs.