ISO 9001 Organisation Mr. Sudhanwa Kopardekar With Mr. Douglas Wallace and Ms. Jennifer Gothard, Commercial Officers at San Francisco U.S. Export Assistance Centre, USA <strong>of</strong> the Senator and House <strong>of</strong> Representative's <strong>of</strong>fice, and many other important organizations. In San Francisco there were meetings with Vice Mayor <strong>of</strong> the City <strong>of</strong> Napa, promoter <strong>of</strong> a Winery in Napa Valley, a venture capitalist and veteran IT Industry, Director at the San Francisco Mayor's Office <strong>of</strong> International Trade and <strong>Commerce</strong>. Interaction with <strong>of</strong>ficials at Federal Trade Commission's division <strong>of</strong> Privacy and Identity Protection, U.S. Export Assistance Centre, San Francisco Global Trade Council, Bay Area Council Economic Institute and Port <strong>of</strong> San Francisco was extremely useful. In Des Moines the group visited the highly mechanised and computerized farms and held meetings with <strong>of</strong>ficials <strong>of</strong> Iowa Economic Development Authority, Iowa Department <strong>of</strong> Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation and John Deere Financial. The Group also visited Saturday Farmers Market. In New York, participants got a very good insight into the service industry and export-import business through meetings with senior <strong>of</strong>ficials <strong>of</strong> American Association <strong>of</strong> Exporters and Importers, Citi Bank, KPMG, Metlife and New York Mercantile Exchange. MCCIA’s SME Excellence Center at Bhosari Small and medium enterprises have emerged as one <strong>of</strong> the key sectors for employment generation and overall economic development <strong>of</strong> our country. Pune has had a long history and tradition <strong>of</strong> competitive and progressive SMEs, right from the 1940s, since the city began to develop as a manufacturing and automobile industry hub. MCCIA, has always been at the forefront <strong>of</strong> initiatives and activities aimed at supporting SMEs in skill and knowledge development and providing them with all kinds <strong>of</strong> interventions th 78 Annual Report 2011-12 MAHRATTA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, INDUSTRIES AND AGRICULTURE 12 that promote opportunity and growth. Indeed, even today a large number <strong>of</strong> MCCIA members belong to the SME sector. In its latest endeavour to add value to SMEs, MCCIA has inaugurated the ‘MCCIA – Navalmal Firodia Center <strong>of</strong> Excellence’, which will expand the scope <strong>of</strong> activities <strong>of</strong> its Pimpri Chinchwad branch. This SME Excellence Centre will cater to the various needs <strong>of</strong> the SME segment. The Centre will include a specialized credit advisory services cell, export finance and facilitation centre, mini tool room, library, capacity development and training facility, conference halls, facilitation centre with a facility to interact with the government departments and <strong>of</strong>ficials, cafeteria. The Centre also currently houses an SME banking branch <strong>of</strong> a major nationalized bank. The objective <strong>of</strong> this centre is to enhance the capability and capacity <strong>of</strong> the SMEs in Pune region in terms <strong>of</strong> global competitiveness. This centre has been created in the SME hub <strong>of</strong> Maharashtra, the Bhosari Industrial cluster which also happens to be the SME capital <strong>of</strong> the country. Capability enhancement encompasses all the operational areas such as Marketing, Finance, Technology and the most important Production and Manufacturing. The centre will strive to create awareness about state <strong>of</strong> the art technology, business environment as well as government policies and regulations. Skills enhancement programs would be a regular feature <strong>of</strong> the centre’s activities. Besides it would operate as a dedicated cell for promoting and establishing lean manufacturing practices, export identification and enhancement programs and all other related areas which would make the SMEs <strong>of</strong> Pune region highly competitive in the global environment. MCCIA Bhosari - ‘Navalmal Firodia Center for Excellence’
‘Navalmal Firodia Center for Excellence’ 13
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