New trade policy to address exporters' concerns on slowdown

The government said Wednesday that the ensuing foreign trade policy will address the concern of exporters on the slowdown in several key markets such as European Union (EU) and Japan.

According to Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher, the government was working on a lot of policy developments and diversification measures to deal with the unveiling challenges of merchandise exports.

Kher who was speaking at the release of engineering export promotion council's (EEPC) India strategy paper for engineering exports said: "A lot of policy developments are happening. Besides, the focus on manufacturing is going to throw opportunities in sectors like defence and technology."

According to Kher, the government's new policy measures would target new markets like Africa, south east asia and CIS (commonwealth of independent states) countries.

Kher emphasised the need for exporters to grow in value chain for remaining competitive in the global markets.

The EEPC India strategy paper has suggested that India will need to ride on the back of the FDI (foreign direct investment) inflows along with high-end technology particularly from large enterprises to boost engineering exports to $126 billion by 2018-19 from $62 billion in 2014.

"While the $126 billion aspiration might be considered aggressive in light of the current economic scenario but a number of factors give us reason to think otherwise," the EEPC India paper which has been released in partnership with global consultancy major KPMG pointed out.