The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh gave away National Awards for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) at a function here. Following is the text of the speech of the Prime Minister on the occasion:

“I take this opportunity to congratulate all the winners of National Awards a this function. I commend my colleague Shri Mahabir Prasadji, and his Ministry, for instituting these awards.

A few months back, I was at an award ceremony for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Mumbai and I was greatly impressed by the tremendous achievements of those award winners as well.

I hope awards like these will encourage more and more of our entrepreneurs to strive harder and contribute to our country’s economic and social development.

The nominations for today’s awards and for the earlier Mumbai awards demonstrate that the small and medium enterprises sector in India has truly come into its own.

Gone are the days when the business limelight was reserved almost entirely for the captains in the corporate sector and SMEs remained in the shadows. India’s SME business leaders now stand proudly on their own feet. I affirm our Government’s solemn commitment to their growth and progress in years to come.

Micro and small enterprises provide employment to almost 41 million people in our country. Including the handloom and handicraft sector, the total employment provided by them is over 60 million. Hence, from the point of view of our people’s livelihood and well-being this sector is of tremendous importance.

Source: fibre2fashion.com