Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu Saturday said that Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) need to be a part of the global value chain.

Connecting to global value chains is critical for Indian MSMEs, Venkaiah Naidu said while speaking at the CII Partnership Summit 2018, in Vishakhapattanam, Andhra Pradesh.

Access to technology and internet can be a major factor to allow SMEs to integrate with the global market and e-trade allows SMEs to reach out to new export avenues and access to low-cost imported inputs, he added.

The Vice President added that Indian companies need to identify segments of global value chains with higher value addition and low entry barriers in global markets to achieve higher exports in the short term.

He also said that the Indian industry should increase investments in agriculture as over 58 per cent of the rural households are dependent on agriculture in India.

The Vice President said asked investors to look into the tremendous potential for investments.

He further said that value addition can be made in agriculture and allied sectors like dairying, fisheries, poultry, food processing, setting up of cold storage facilities and refrigerated vans.

Adding value to the farm produce is crucial for increasing farmers income and establishing agri-related industries in the rural areas will not only provide employment but also help in minimizing migration to cities, he added.

The Vice President said that Vital structural reforms like the implementation of demonetization and GST by the Indian government have led to an expansion of the formal economy and brought about increased tax compliance.

The number of people, who had filed Income Tax returns increased from 6.47 crore in 2014-15 to 8.27 crore at the end of 2016-17, he added.