Centre readies plan to revive exports, says secy.

NEW DELHI: The government is asking exporters to fill the gap created by the exit of Chinese players from the lower-end of the manufacturing space, while readying measures, including an end to the "stop-and-go" policy on export of value-added farm commodities and minerals and a more flexible regime for special economic zones to reverse the trend of falling shipments from the country.

"We are telling exporters to look at areas that China is vacating at the lower-end of the manufacturing chain and move in there. Industry needs to quickly move into these areas, which may also includes chemicals," commerce secretary S R Rao told TOI.

At the same time he indicated that the government was gearing up for competition from China, especially in the Asean region, to capture a bigger share of the construction and project exports pie and may offer lines of credit to push the cause of the local industry. Asean and China, along with Africa and Latin America, have been identified as key focus areas for development of new markets and reduce the reliance on traditional areas such as Europe and the US, which are in a prolonged period of economic downturn.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com