Korean Government Provides First 2.5 Billion Won in Grant Aid to India... Agreement Signed with India ILO

International Cooperation for Joint Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] KOICA signed an inter-agency agreement with the International Labour Organization (ILO) India on the 7th (local time) to launch the 'India SME Capacity Building Project.' The project is valued at 2.38 million USD until 2022.

The signing ceremony was held via video conference due to COVID-19. Attendees included Do Young-ah, Head of KOICA Bangladesh Office; Dagma Walter, Head of ILO India Office; J.K. Singh, Undersecretary of the Indian Ministry of Labour and Employment; as well as representatives from the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in India, ILO Geneva Headquarters, and KOICA Geneva Office.

This project is the first government-to-government grant aid project between the Korean and Indian governments. Through this project, both countries will ▲ strengthen capacities necessary for the formulation and implementation of India's SME policies, ▲ nurture young entrepreneurs and emerging SMEs by utilizing ILO-developed SME-specific training modules, and ▲ cooperate to improve productivity and labor conditions of existing SMEs.

The project targets the food processing and apparel & textile sectors in the southeastern Indian states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. In these sectors, KOICA will provide ILO's entrepreneurship education program to youth aspiring to start businesses and a three-month intensive advisory program module to SMEs.

Additionally, training and other support will be provided so that Indian SME policymakers can refer to Korea's SME-related policies. Joint research and international networking events will also be conducted to expand the global market exports of Indian SME products. Through this, the project aims to strengthen the capacity of Indian SMEs while establishing a cooperative foundation and expanding exchanges between Korean and Indian SMEs.

The ILO India Office, a partner in this project, was established in 1928 and has extensive experience conducting research and projects aimed at creating quality jobs in India. As the office oversees the South Asia region, there is also an expectation for the project's outcomes to expand to India and neighboring ASEAN countries.

Do Young-ah, Head of KOICA Bangladesh Office, said in a congratulatory speech, “This project holds great significance as our government's first grant aid project to India,” adding, “Based on ILO's expertise and deep understanding of India, we hope to achieve results that will serve as a foundation for the development of Indian SMEs, and also establish a basis for SME exchanges between Korea and India.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.