FIEO organises stakeholders' consultation on exports

October 11, 2017: The Federation of Indian Export Organisations(FIEO) recently organised a Stakeholders Consultation with a view to give a fillip to export sector and make India an export hub. The consultation was chaired by Commerce & Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu along with Textiles Minister Smriti Zubin Irani, Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers Ananth Kumar, and Minister of State for Commerce & Industry C R Chaudhary. Export Promotion Councils, leading sssociations, Local Chambers and Exporters representing large, medium and small sectors participated in the discussions.

The deliberations flagged the global and domestic challenges faced by the exporters as well as possible solutions to overcome such challenges. Ganesh Kumar Gupta, President, FIEO suggested to devise an export linked employment Scheme to help job creation and migration of informal workers to formal sectors. Gupta also suggested an annual interaction with the bankers to impress on the pro-active role which they have to play to facilitate the country’s exports. For showcasing of Indian products to help marketing of MSME goods, Gupta suggested to open display centres in important markets starting with China where India requires change in product profile of exports to address rising trade deficit. He also suggested having an annual interaction with Ambassadors of Foreign Missions in India and Indian Missions abroad so that they can also augment the commercial and economic relation between India and rest of the countries.

The meeting also provided inputs for a new export strategy focusing on integrating India into regional/global value chain, a stable agri-export policy to provide remunerative returns to farmers, focus on high and medium technology sectors of exports, revisiting focus area approach and unleashing the potential of services such as tourism, professional services and e-commerce. Exporters also highlighted their concerns under the GST regime and its impact on competitiveness of exports.

The government has assured that all the issues raised by the exporters will be duly examined and shall be suitably incorporated in the Foreign Trade Policy. The Commerce & Industry Minister said that there is need to revisit the export strategy in view of emerging global development with increasing protectionism and high volatility in currencies.

During the media interaction, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia added that the mid-term review of the FTP is an ongoing process for which the government is continuously interacting with all stakeholders. She reiterated that GST issues are not the reason for delay in coming out with the mid-term review of the Foreign Trade Policy. However the Commerce Minister has to take a call on that. On achieving the trade target of $900 billion, she said that we are not aiming to meet the $900 billion target because of global uncertainties.