Industries Minister P. Rajeev said on Saturday that MSMEs are the backbone of the country's economy. The CPM leader's remark came while inaugurating a workshop organized by the Industries Department to create awareness about the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReds) platform. ""The government is doing everything it can to encourage startups and MSMEs. All facilities available to IT firms are equally available to non-IT startups. In Kerala, around 1,40,000 new micro, small, and medium enterprises have been registered,"" he said. TReDS is an electronic platform for facilitating the financing and selling of trade receivables for MSMEs through multiple financiers. These receivables can be due from corporations and other buyers, including government departments and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) Previously, the state government announced the introduction of TReDS, enabling government departments, PSUs, and cooperatives to use the platform to settle bills for MSMEs.