Message From IESA President

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT SUNIL MORE INDIAN EXIBITIONS, CONFERENCES & EVENTS SERVICES ASSOCIATION

Dear friends,

If you recall, I had mentioned in my previous message that we as an industry must not look at the Government for sops and rather look inward to hold on during this difficult period as the Government was more seized with the problem of addressing larger issues like rising fuel prices, unemployment, pandemic crisis etc. I feel, it was difficult for the Government to look at micro levels and instead concentrate on the larger picture.

During the past one year, IEIA, EEMA, IESA and other industry bodies made various representations on behalf of the industry; mainly amongst them were related to starting the business by releasing funds for the Government projects, GST and IT refunds and some procedural changes.

The Union Budget presented by Smt. Nirmala Seetharaman, Hon’ble Union Minister for Finance on 1st February 2022, made no specific mention of the Events Industry neither any concessions given to the industry. In fact, no specific industry concerns were addressed in the Budget speech apart from focus on MSMEs, though separate stimulus package for MSMEs was not given.

I see following announcements related to MSMEs, which may be useful for events industry, mentioned by the Hon’ble FM in her speech: Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) has been extended up to March 2023 from March 2022 to help much-needed additional credit to more than 130 lakh MSMEs. An additional amount of Rs 50,000 crores for the hospitality and related industry.Revamping of the Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme with the required infusion of funds.Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP) programme.

The industry stalwarts though have expressed that these initiatives were unlikely to help the industry as the industry was looking forward to onetime waiver or at least a moratorium of loans or interest like large industries. The tourism industry also welcomed additional amount given for the hospitality and related industry, but said it will not solve the immediate problem of survival, unemployment and bleeding of the industry.

I am not sure how these announcements will help our industry but I am sure, our industry stalwarts can throw some light on the same for the benefit of the industry.I feel our only hope is the revival of business with more events taking place thereby accelerating the otherwise stagnant industry. Till then, tighten your belts and hang on a little longer.

You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world’s problems at once but don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.