The National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 
Development (NIESBUD), an autonomous body under the Ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), Government of India, has signed a memorandum of understanding with SMEStreet, an online knowledge sharing platform, to strengthen its outreach and engagement with the MSME segment.
As part of this tie-up, NIESBUD, a flagship institute working on areas such as entrepreneurship and skills development, will support SMEStreet’s activities around awareness building, knowledge sharing and specialized outreach programs that are aimed to establish direct engagement with MSMEs.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Arun Kumar Jha, Director General, NIESBUD said, “In a country like India, there is huge untapped potential in terms of entrepreneurship and skill development. The Government of India is taking strong measures to create a holistic growth-oriented ecosystem for entrepreneurs and businesses. Now, the challenge is to efficiently reach out to maximum number of entrepreneurs and educate them about the opportunities that exist. We have been actively involved in activities related to skill development of entrepreneurs as well as their employees. While working on this mission, we found that SMEStreet is an effective knowledge sharing platform that is actively working in these areas. Partnering with SMEStreet will definitely add a great thrust to our mission.”
Echoing his views on this tie-up, Faiz Askari, Editor of SMEStreet, said, “Indian entrepreneurs and MSMEs have to face plenty of challenges in their growth path. We look at them as opportunities to work upon. Entrepreneurship development through value added knowledge sharing and skill development is an important aspect of MSME growth. We aim to facilitate a proactive business environment for MSMEs. We are committed towards enabling MSMEs to grow exponentially in their businesses. Through SMEStreet, we are trying to bridge the gap of communication and knowledge access between experts and entrepreneurs.”
He further said, “Getting NIESBUD’s support at this time is going to give us a great boost. NIESBUD’s knowledge and network will add great value to our entrepreneur community which is growing rapidly.”
