Business development scheme for coir clusters

Staff Reporter

Focus on innovative market support models

Programme to ensure marketing, financial support

To be implemented over the next four years

KOCHI: A Business Development Services (BDS) programme under the Small and medium enterprises (SME) Financing and Development Project was launched here on Friday for coir floor covering clusters in Alappuzha.

The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)-led BDS programme is a multi-donor project being supported by the Government of India, World Bank, Department for International Development (DFID), KFW and GTZ.

Cluster pulse, a non-governmental agency working in 66 clusters in nine countries, will implement the BDS programme over the next four years, said SIDBI Deputy Managing Director Rakesh Rewari here at a press conference. The implementation will focus on developing new and innovative models of market support.

SMEs play a crucial role in the coir industry and as the economy moves from the low to mid-income status, their economic relevance will grow both in terms of their contributions to gross domestic production and employment generation. In this context, it is essential that SMEs in Kerala have access to high quality BDS, Mr. Rewari said.

The programme is a multi-pronged one to ensure marketing, financial and technical support to the SMEs in the coir cluster.

In advanced countries, BDS is a business-to-business service provided by private firms. Government BDS delivery is commonly focussed on disadvantaged groups or groups that are underserved by the market such as businesses in low-income neighbourhoods or businesses on the verge of bankruptcy.

In developing economies BDS is generally less mature with a limited number of providers serving the private sector, said a statement issued at the press conference.

There is a consensus that BDS is most effective when it is delivered by private providers who will actively pursue new clients and expand their reach.

Therefore, BDS interventions focus less on the direct delivery of BDS to SMEs and more on the support to developing a self-sustaining private market for BDS.