Their strength lies in their unity as clusters,'' the Minister said. She warned that unless Small and Medium Enterprises strengthen themselves to face global competition they would be threatened with extinction causing widespread unemployment. Ms. Raje told the conference. But they are realising that fresh opportunities may be coming up. In today's world one has to produce for the global market, one has to carve a niche for oneself, '' the Minister said.
Small industries tend to lack a strategy for going global.
They do not always have access to the information they need on export markets, administrative procedures, international standards or to new technologies. They lack international experience and management resources and they are often unaware of support services available to them. They are more vulnerable than large companies and they suffer disproportionately when things go wrong. The number and diversity of such units mean that they are affected by a very wide range of policy instruments, including macroeconomic and competition policies. Existing policies mainly meet the requirements of large, established businesses.