The Kerala Government will give equal importance to the development of the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as to other major thrust areas like IT, bio-technology and infrastructure development, Chief Minister A.K. Antony said, participating in an interactive session on the second day of the three-day Kerala Business-to-Business Meet-2004.
He said no state could afford to ignore the SME sector in view of its vast employment potential and scope for export in the globalised era. The government had already earmarked Rs 5,100m (US$ 112.7m) to support the small-scale sector including coir, handloom and handicrafts and some of the food-processing units that accounted for a large number of the state's workforce, he said.
Antony noted that the government's recent policy changes had helped improve the atmosphere of the state's industrial sector in favour of attracting investments.
