Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) not only contribute to the national economy but also play a significant role in meeting the sustainability goals of the United Nations (UN).
This article sheds light on the relevance, role and contributions made by the SME sector towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) laid out by the UN. SMEs in India contributes nearly 40% of the national GDP. As such, they play a major role in any industrial goal set by India (in this case, the SDGs by the UN). This goes on to imply that if India hopes to cater to all the SDGs listed by the UN, then the SME sector must and will play an important role in meeting these goals.
The robust SME sector of India, in combination with various digital adoption initiatives launched by the government, may prove to be a strategic combination in order for India to move towards a sustainable future.
Let’s get right into understanding more about the SDGs and how India’s SMEs play a significant role in their achievements.
Goals of Sustainable Development and How SMEs Contribute to the Same
| Goal | How SMEs are contributing to the goal |
| End poverty in all its forms, everywhere | SMEs create employment in rural districts that lift people out of poverty. Informal enterprises engage with poor and marginalized populations as well. |
| End hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture | Smallholder farms and agriculture-focused SMEs directly contribute to this goal. The more these SMEs thrive, the closer we get to achieving this second goal laid down by the UN. |
| Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing at all ages | With the advancement of new technology, health apps are a common thing today. In addition, the health sector involves a range of business areas for private sector participation from health services to retail to life sciences and medical education. |
| Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and provide lifelong learning for all | Many SMEs provide vocational training to interns and apprenticeships. Several other SMEs in the education sector could provide complementary education services, expanding the access to educational services to the general public. |
| Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls | A significant number of SMEs are women-led/owned (9.4 million in the world). In addition, MSMEs tend to employ more women as a share of their total workforce than bigger industries. About 20% of all MSME employees in the world are women. |
In Conclusion
There are a total of 17 SDGs as part of the 2030 agenda for the UN. In due time, all of these goals can be achieved if SMEs continue their current trend upwards. With every segment of society playing a part, we can hope to have a sustained future for the world. UpScale is a business super app that facilitates superior growth for Small and Medium scale enterprises. Through our various research within different industries, we are capable of giving complete guidelines regarding various aspects of businesses. Think Business Growth, Think UpScale.What’s your Reaction?
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