Panel Discussion on Use of Technology and AI to foster growth of women led MSMEs and Keynote Address by Shri Narayan Rane, Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Govt. of India

FICCI Ladies Organization (FLO) organised an event titled ‘ Use of Technology and AI to foster growth of women led MSMEs’ on October 25, 2023, at FICCI. This event was organised under the aegis of the FLO National Initiative – FLO MSME Assist Cell for Women. The objective of this cell is to equip women with the necessary tools to succeed in the MSME sector, by providing access to valuable resources, handholding, and mentoring.

The highlight of this event was the Keynote Address by Shri Narayan Tatu Rane, Hon’ble Minister for MSME. Shri Rane assured that MSME Ministry is willing to help FLO in creating MSME support centre in various parts of the country including Pune, which was outlines by FLO President, Sudha Shivkumar in her welcome address. He said adoption of advanced technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) by women led MSMEs can serve as a tool for growth for businesses in building their resilient capacity.

“The government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done a lot to improve MSMEs access to financing, information infrastructures and international markets. Providing regulatory, legal, and financial frameworks conducive to entrepreneurship and small firms as well as startups has been our priority. Advancement of digital technologies and development of digital service models especially for women led MSME’s offer small businesses enhanced accessibility to business tools,” Shri Rane added.

A panel discussion on “Use of Technology and AI to Foster Growth of Women-Led MSME, preceded this address. The panelists were : Mr. Prakash Sankaran, CEO of Invoice Mart TReDS ; Mr. Akash Chaturvedi, Founder & CEO of Rebel Corp; Ms. Nandita Sharma, Lead – Social Sector at Open Network for Digital Commerce and Ginny Rani, Founder &CEO, SearchMyTenders.com. Ms. Sucheta Shah, GB Member and Promoter Director of Atlas Integrated Finance Ltd was the moderator.

Neelam Seolekar, Imm. Past Chair FLO Pune introduced the Hon’ble Minister and Ms Sabina Singhvi was the emcee for the event. Joyshree Das Varma, Sr. Vice President, FLO and National Hea- FLO MSME Assist Cell gave the Vote of Thanks.