New Delhi, Nov. 17 -- Indian small and medium enterprises' (SMEs) efforts to diversify from the high-tariff US market to hitherto unexplored countries such as Togo, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Uganda, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Kenya, Bahrain and Poland have earned them "significant" premium for their goods from new vendors as compared to traditional American buyers. "In recent Reverse Buyer Seller Meets (RBSM) in Vizag and Pune this month, new buyers offered better rates for Indian products than traditional buyers. For example, buyers from Zimbabwe, Rwanda and some other countries offered $2-$4 more for a piece of shirt as compared to the American buyers. The US tariffs have opened new markets for us," India SME Forum president Vinod Kumar said. Without naming the Indian garment manufacturer, Kumar said a small entrepreneur who used to export formal shirts to the US for $6-8 apiece, could negotiate a sample procurement of 50,000 pieces at around $10 per piece. "High tariffs imposed by the US did hit India's garment exports to America, but it also opened up new opportunities," he said. "After the success of Pune and Vizag, we are now planning 12 more RBSMs soon," he said, adding that these are called reverse meets because potential buyers from different countries visit India unlike earlier practice of Indian firms visiting different markets scouting for buyers. RBSMs are organised by the India SME Forum under the aegis of the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in association with the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) and respective state governments. The RBSM programme invites first-time international buyers from non-traditional markets, including Togo, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Rwanda, Uganda, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Kenya, Bahrain and Poland, Hungary, along with buyers from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Japan, New Zealand and Australia, Kumar said. Many of these delegates were visiting India for the first time, exploring alternatives to their conventional sourcing markets and discovering the scale, quality and competitiveness of Indian MSMEs ranging from engineering, textiles, food processing, EV components, electronics and pharmaceuticals to specialty materials. Giving details of the Pune RBSM, Kumar said 378 MSMEs and 45 buyers from 16 countries participated and held over 522 business-to-business (B2B) meetings in the first week of November. The meeting saw the signing of 32 memorandum of understanding (MoU) valued at $1.47 million for sampling. It will lead to potential business generation of over $117 million in exports, if samples are approved, he said. "Delegates from New Zealand expressed interest in $12.25 million worth of trade joint ventures and foreign direct investments, while representatives from Zimbabwe indicated interest in $1.5 million in joint business-to-government purchases," he said. The Pune event was organised in association with the Maharashtra Small Scale Industries Development Corporation Ltd (MSSIDC). At Visakhapatnam on November 8-10, 171 MSMEs interacted with over 35 international buyers during the AP-MSME Export Development Convention, Kumar said. It concluded with the signing of 36 MoUs amounting to $18.02 million worth of samples, he added....