German Mittelstand visits Indian Embassy

On Friday, 1st December a delegation from BVMW (German Federal Association of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) visited Indian Embassy in Berlin. This networking event was organized on the occasion of India’s Union Minister of Steel Chaudhary Birender Singh’s visit to the Embassy.

Speeches were held by BVMW President Mario Ohoven, Indian Ambassador to Germany Mukta Dutta Tomar and the Union Minister emphasizing the importance of German-Indian cooperation on economic, environmental and social issues, the position of BVMW in German economy, and the activities carried out by MIIM (Make in India Mittelstand) in supporting the German companies in India-Entry.

BVMW is the Voice of Mittelstand! German SMEs, popularly known as “The Mittelstand”, is an interesting blend of mid-sized, highly focused, often family-owned, quality-conscious and close-to-customer companies. Many of them, in spite of being small, are world champions in their niche field, and hence are famous as “Hidden Champions”. With the 37% share of total German turnover, they employ 60% of German employees and train 84% of German apprentices. Their role in maintaining the social fabric and industrial prowess of the country is extremely important. BVMW represents 555 000 of such companies and is headed by the dynamic industry leader Mario Ohoven.

MIIM or Make In India Mittelstand is an initiative by the Embassy of India to support India-Entry for the Mittelstand companies. It has been an extremely smart move by Government of India as the “Mittelstand concept” provides all that Indian industry needs – skills for the youth, employment for the masses, and enhancement of manufacturing share in the GDP. Within two years of its inception, until September 2017, MIIM had approached over 350 German Mittelstand companies and is actively supporting 93 proposals with a declared investment of EUR 800 million.

Germany and India complement each other on various matters and make for perfect partners. German technology, quality, innovation, vocational education, discipline and pursuit of perfection can augment well with Indian market size, demography, growth momentum, creativity, and Information technology advantage. In the near future, we are bound to see a lot of cooperation between our countries on skills development, infrastructure, environment-friendly technologies, healthcare, Industry 4.0 and innovation – across various industry sectors.

It was high time that BVMW members and MIIM drivers met in order to accelerate the collaboration.