India hosts First BRICS MSME Forum and Third SME Working Group Meeting in Agra

📌 Summary:

• Ministry of MSME hosted the First BRICS MSME Forum and the Third SME Working Group Meeting on 19 June 2026 at Agra, under the BRICS 2026 theme 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability'
• Participants from BRICS members and partner countries: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, South Africa, UAE, Belarus, Cuba, Malaysia, Uganda and India
• Working Group theme: 'Building MSME Ecosystem - Sustainable Roots to Global Routes'; members shared policy interventions to strengthen MSME ecosystems
• Union MSME Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi flagged MSMEs as engines of growth, innovation and employment across BRICS and the Global South
• Priority cooperation areas: affordable finance, technology adoption, digital transformation, market access, skilling and sustainability
• India linked the effort to its Viksit Bharat 2047 vision; UP highlighted One District One Product (ODOP) as a model for empowering local entrepreneurs and global market linkages

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 (international groupings) and GS3 (MSME, employment) - BRICS economic cooperation, MSME ecosystem and India's Global South leadership.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• Forum held at Agra, Uttar Pradesh (19 June 2026); India holds BRICS Chairship 2026
• BRICS 2026 theme: 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability'
• ODOP = One District One Product

🔑 Key Term: MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) - enterprises classified by investment and turnover; a key driver of output, exports and employment in India.