Centre, states, industry representatives to discuss ways to boost export on 10 Jan; Suresh Prabhu to chair meet

New Delhi: In the wake of growing protectionism globally, Centre, state governments and industry representatives will meet on 10 January to discuss ways to boost the country’s exports, an official said Tuesday. The issues would be deliberated upon in the fourth meeting of the Council for Trade Development and Promotion, which will be chaired by the Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu. Trade ministers from different states including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Karnataka are expected to attend the meeting, the official added. [caption id=“attachment_3006206” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] The council was constituted in July 2015 to promote India’s overseas shipments. The meeting assumes significance as states play a proactive role in promoting outbound shipments. The commerce ministry has advised all the states to formulate their export policies and appoint export commissioners. The issues which are likely to figure in the meeting include ways to enhance export competitiveness, quality and standards of products. The council acts as a platform to develop partnership with states with an aim to boost international trade. Besides trade/commerce ministers of states and Union Territories (UTs), 14 secretaries of the Central government, including commerce, revenue, shipping, civil aviation, agriculture, food processing and economic affairs are the members of the council. The council also provides a platform to state governments and UTs for articulating their perspective on trade policy to help them develop and pursue export strategies in line with the national foreign trade policy. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) president Ganesh Kumar Gupta said issues related to credit and modern infrastructure need to be resolved to push the exports. Since 2011-12, India’s exports have been hovering at around $300 billion. During 2017-18, the shipments grew by about 10 percent to $303 billion. Experts have cautioned that growing trade tensions between the US and China could impact global trade growth. Imposition of high import duties by the US this year on certain steel and aluminium products have triggered a trade war kind of situation. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) too has stated that escalating trade tensions and tighter credit market conditions in important markets will slow trade growth in 2019. During April-November 2018-19, the country’s exports grew 11.58 percent to $217.52 billion.