Rituparna Chatterjee – Mumbai
With a view to provide a networking platform between SMEs in Kerala and trade and business communities in India and international markets, the Department of Industries & Commerce, Government of Kerala supported by the Directorate of Industries & Commerce, Directorate of Handloom & Textiles, Kerala Bureau of Industrial Promotion (K-bip), Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC), Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA), and Kerala SIDCO is organising the ‘Kerala Business to Business Meet 2015’ from February 26-28, 2015 at Galfar International Convention Centre, Le Meridien Kochi. The meet will focus on promoting the products of Kerala’s seven key sectors namely food processing; handloom, textiles and garments; rubber; wood based industries; Ayurveda and herbal; electrical and electronics; and the traditional sector.
Elaborating about the event, V Rajagopal, chief executive officer, K-bip stated, “We have selected 151 core SMEs from these seven sectors based on a number of criteria like their level of basic computer knowledge, online presence through websites, to name a few. We got around 218 seller registrations out of which 67 were rejected. We closed the seller selection process around two months back. We are also being equally stringent in the screening of the buyers. Their registration is being done through Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) portal. After the buyer registers online, a mail comes to both K-bip and FICCI. Once K-bip gives an approval, FICCI goes on to confirm the participation of that particular buyer.” This B2B meet will enable these core SMEs to showcase their products to the registered buyers which consists of hotels, export houses, retail shops, among many.
Rajagopal added, “Till January third week, we registered more than 210 buyers among which 28 are international from regions like the Middle East, the US, Afghanistan, Europe, Sri Lanka. We are expecting around 50 to 70 international buyers and are targeting 315 total buyers. We will close the registration when we touch 350.”