Government Sets Up Panel to Promote Exports.

(UNI) The government set up a panel of bankers, industrialists, and trade union leaders to advise it on raising India’s export competitiveness and doubling overseas shipments in the next three years.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting of Board of Trade (BoT) chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.

Industrialists, bankers, export promotion councils and government officials participated in the deliberations.

The panel will submit a report in three months on various thrust areas to increase India’s export competitiveness and also manufacturing capacity, he told reporters after the meeting.

The government has set a target to double the export to 400 billion dollars in the next three years. Mr Sharma India will be able to cross the target (of 200 billion dollars in 2010-11). He, however, admitted that demand is still weak in the United States and Europe – India’s traditional export markets.

But the Minister said the Department of Foreign Trade (DGFT) is carrying out a sectoral review with all the industry bodies and export promotion councils to find which areas would require government’s intervention and support to push exports. The review is likely to be completed by December-end.

Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President A Sakthivel pressed for extending the interest subsidy scheme by another year till March 31, 2012 for all export sectors at the BOT meeting. He also wanted one-year extension beyond September 2010 of the market linked focus product scheme. This, he added, will enable garment exporters enjoy the two per cent benefit as their export to the US still remained weak and also because they are facing stiff competition from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, China, Vietnam and Turkey in US market.

India’s exports totalled 121.4 billion dollars during April-October 2010-11. UNI

Source : indlawnews.com