Leverage free trade agreements to our benefit, Piyush Goyal tells industry

There were also discussions on the priorities identified in the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 and the strategies and measures to be adopted to take forward the export growth

Commerce and Industry minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday chaired the second meeting of the reconstituted Board of Trade (BoT) that focused on reviewing India’s export performance to achieve the $2 trillion export target by 2030.

The minister urged the industry to leverage the free trade agreements (FTAs) signed by India to its benefit. 

There were also discussions on the priorities identified in the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 and the strategies and measures to be adopted in order to take forward the export growth.

“The reconstituted BoT provides an opportunity to have regular discussions and consultations with trade and industry and advises the Government on policy measures connected with the Foreign Trade Policy in order to achieve the objectives of boosting India’s trade,” an official statement said.

The meeting that saw participants from the Centre, states, and industry, took place at a time when global trade has been witnessing challenges over last four years, starting with the Covid 19 pandemic, Russia Ukraine conflict, recessionary trends in major economies, followed by Israel-Hamas conflict and Red Sea crisis.

Over the next three-four months, the government will launch an intermediary platform–Trade Connect ePlatform–to help Indian exporters and entrepreneurs get information on various regulations to access markets, sectors, export trends, as well as easy access of benefits under FTAs, the minister said. He also asked the industry to share data on non-tariff trade barriers faced by them in other countries.

During the meeting, presentations were made on India's import/export performance and state export performance, Gati Shakti national master plan leveraging FTAs for boosting export growth, intervention to boost pharma exports, among others.

During the meeting, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) urged the government to launch a planned scheme to address the infrastructure gaps through centre-state funding, which will help in exponential growth in exports from the districts.

EEPC India said that the government could consider connecting waterways with sea ports as it will significantly reduce transportation costs for moving cargo locally.