Global turmoil an opportunity for Indian MSMEs: Sushma Paul Berlia

ASSOCHAM's Sushma Paul Berlia urged Indian MSMEs to use the current global economic turmoil as a chance to create stronger international partnerships, highlighting that many nations facing greater pain may look towards India for business opportunities.

Indian MSMEs and companies should use the ongoing global economic and geopolitical turmoil as an opportunity to forge stronger international partnerships and expand business opportunities, Sushma Paul Berlia, Chairman, ASSOCHAM's National Council on Ease of Doing Business, told ANI on Tuesday.

"If Indian companies can reach out for partnership, if MSMEs can take this opportunity of forging better relationships, because don't forget that while we are going through pain, many, many countries around the world are going through greater pain and they may still be looking at India," Berlia told ANI on the sidelines of ASSOCHAM'S India Business Reforms Summit 2026.

She said that despite rising crude oil prices, inflationary pressures and global geopolitical tensions, India is still expected to remain among the fastest-growing economies in the world. "The key thing to note is that while GDP may end up lower, it is going to still be the highest in my view across the world, which is saying something during these times," she said, adding that it doesn't take away from the pain, that is sure.

Navigating Short-Term Challenges

Talking on short term scenario, she said, "If we don't look at the short term, we have to find measures for the short term which can enable us by finding alternative routes to fuel-based requirements, to some kind of cost cutting, also pain in the way that we go about our work, but use it not to stop growing but rather to start investing and invite investment."

Leveraging India's Skilled Workforce

Berlia added that India's skilled and technologically advanced workforce could become a major strength for the country during the ongoing uncertainty. "While we may not be able to help them to reduce their petroleum costs and other issues that they would be facing, we can at least help them to have access to the kind of manpower that we can provide to them, which is both skilled as well as technologically advanced," she said.

Government-Industry Partnership for Growth

Speaking about the summit discussions, Berlia said one of the biggest outcomes was the government's willingness to work in partnership with industry to improve the ease of doing business in the country. She said Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal listened to industry concerns and suggestions during both a closed-door interaction and the larger conference session.

According to Berlia, the minister encouraged industry associations and stakeholders to provide actionable and detailed recommendations to address business bottlenecks and improve implementation.

She also said the discussions highlighted the importance of identifying specific "pinprick" issues instead of making broad complaints about processes, adding that technical sessions at the summit would help industry and government collaborate more effectively in the coming year.

An Opportunity to Attract Global Investments

Berlia further said the present geopolitical and economic turbulence could become an opportunity for India to attract global investments as countries rethink supply chains and seek stable and predictable partners. (ANI)

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