Naina Lal Kidwai was speaking at NDTVs Emerging Business Conclave.
Apparel, made-ups, footwear, furniture, and electronics are among the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sectors that are likely to benefit from the reciprocal tariffs, said Naina Lal Kidwai, Past President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). Ms Kidwai was speaking at NDTV's Emerging Business Conclave, Delhi Edition, where she discussed India's growth story - making India a developed nation by 2047, but not without full participation of women entrepreneurs.
Referring to a study by FICCI, Ms Kidwai listed the negative impacts of tariffs and where the opportunity lies. "Apparel, made-ups, footwear, not just leather footwear, it's synthetic footwear as well, electronics and furniture would be areas to see India's export potential. Gems and jewellery are looking very difficult, as in one that is negatively impacted. Marine, tea, honey, bakery products, dairy, spices, guar gum, carpets and medical devices are negatively impacted," she said.
"There's a whole bunch of sectors which are not impacted, this includes pharmaceuticals, steel, aluminium, copper, automobile, auto components, but I would just add as of now because it's not as if these are not in the crosshairs," she added.
Further talking about India's export potential, Ms Kidwai said, it can happen through direct connect, e-commerce, which is an enabler, government policy, which I think is required to help and aid.
Finance and access to finance play a role in how MSMEs perform. The data shows that the finance gap in MSMEs is 5.7 trillion. Women-led enterprises in the MSME sector represent 23 per cent of all MSMEs, but they account for 32 per cent of the finance gap. What keeps lenders away from financing women entrepreneurs?
Ms Kidwai believes that the gap is closing and credits it to the government programmes focused on programmes to help women entrepreneurs and women start-ups. She further asked for data to see how women entrepreneurs and women-led MSMEs perform vis-a-vis male-dominated ones.
"I would think that the collective data there would show that it's at least equivalent, if not better, but the perceptions that have been there and the ability of bankers and financiers to address this predilection to favour male-dominated industries remain," she added.
Talking about the progress made, Ms Kidwai said, "In the startup industry, there is a favouring certainly by the offshore venture capitalists and even the private equity firms to favour industries or startups which have at least one woman in the core founding group."
Ms Kidwai, however, believes that women have proven themselves in the banking sector and that no discrimination exists there. "The system will throw up the best, and they will come through the system in the natural course as the next CEOs and heads," she added.
Lots of prominent women are heading finance companies, NBFCs, insurance companies, asset management companies, and banks, she said.
When asked how more women can be pushed into the workforce, Ms Kidwai focused on employment.
"Employment of men and women, job creation, and the MSMEs become critical in terms of what manufacturing means for employment. I don't believe big manufacturing is ever going to create jobs. For 50,000 crores in an aluminium plant, you may employ 200 people. The capital investment versus employment for large industries is never going to give India what we want in terms of job employment, but what we do need is the supply chain that will go into these large companies which will generate more employment and the MSME sector stand alone as they are in terms of employment generation," she said.
Ms Kidwai suggested India ramp up its exports and become a strong export story.
"India is not a big success story on exports except services... It has a bit to do with finances, logistics, paperwork and bureaucracy. How do we clean this up to truly be an exporter to the world? That is where MSMEs have to play a critical role," she said.
