Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari on Thursday interacted via video conferencing with the representatives of Bharat Chamber of Commerce, enterprises from various sectors, media and other stakeholders on 'Post COVID -19 Challenges and New Opportunities in India'.

Union Minister Gadkari called upon the industries to take necessary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The minister emphasized on usage of PPEs and advised to maintain social distancing while resuming the offices and business operations.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said, industries should also arrange shelter and food for the labourers at the work site and focus on preventive measures and business activities simultaneously.

The minister further mentioned that the highways and ports have started functioning and over the period of time the operations will be on track.

Regarding revival of MSME sector, the Minister said that special focus towards export enhancement is the need of the hour and necessary practices shall be adopted to reduce power cost, logistics cost and production cost to become competitive in the global market.

Union Minsiter has urged enterprises to make use of technology and mentioned that research, innovation and quality improvement can play a major role in industrial development.

Union Minister has also emphasized that all the related stakeholders should work together and tap the opportunities that will be created when the COVID-19 crisis gets over.

During the interaction, the representatives expressed concerns regarding various challenges being faced by MSMEs amid COVID-19 pandemic along with few suggestions. They requested support from the government to keep the MSME sector afloat.