IFC, Private Sector Agree to Create Opportunity for India's Small Entrepreneurs

Private sector leaders in India agreed at a discussion hosted by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group that businesses tend to be most successful when they find ways to create opportunity for small entrepreneurs and make markets work for the country’s poor.

The three-day discussion, organized in partnership with Harvard Kennedy School and the International Business Leaders Forum, brought together representatives of several prominent Indian companies—including Idea Cellular, ITC, Jain Irrigation, Unilever, Cairn India, and ICICI Bank. Several international companies with a large presence in India, including GlaxoSmithKline and Syngenta, also participated.

The participants agreed that the global food and financial crises have heightened the need for businesses in India to engage entrepreneurs at the base of the economic pyramid, such as small producers, farmers, and other suppliers and distributors. The companies discussed ways to increase their outreach to small businesses.

“We at Idea Cellular, as a part of Aditya Birla Group, thank IFC for giving us a platform to share our efforts in serving a forgotten community at the base of the pyramid and learn from other speakers,” said Pradeep Shrivastava, Idea Cellular’s Chief Marketing Officer.

Anil Sinha, General Manager for IFC Advisory Services in South Asia, said, “Through this unique platform, IFC in partnership with important private sector players hopes to stimulate market conditions that sustainably enhance incomes for lower-income people and small entrepreneurs.”

Participants in the discussion explored opportunities, challenges, and solutions to engage small businesses in the supply chains of larger companies, including by building entrepreneurs’ skills and improving their ability to access financing.

Vineet Rai, Managing Director, Aavishkaar Venture Management Services Private Limited, said that, "in addition to seed funding, the ability to experiment, reasonable allowance for failures and then to rise again and succeed are key to achieve sustainable models."

Sujata Lamba, IFC Global Linkages Senior Manager, said: “An inclusive approach involving engaging with small businesses helps create new value – increasing flexibility, reducing cost, enhancing ‘social license to operate’ – in traditional business operations.”

To know more about IFC in India, please visit www.ifc.org/southasia.

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About IFC

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $16.2 billion in fiscal 2008, a 34 percent increase over the previous year. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.