Panel to promote exports - move in the right direction

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Bikky Khosla | 30 Nov, 2010
Even as the government set up a working group of top bankers and industrialists to advise it on raising India's export competitiveness and doubling overseas shipments, transaction costs, which account for up to eight percent of the export bill, needs to be reduced to at least half.

Our Commerce Minister, Mr Anand Sharma has rightly taken up the issue and if '50 percent of export costs could be reduced by dealing with 48 issues in the six ministries' like he said, export business can be made simpler and could provide much relief to the export community.

What comes across as a rational decision is the one taken by the government and RBI to closely monitor the export situation of the country. I strongly feel that measures like fiscal incentives for enhanced market access across the globe, diversification of export markets, 2 percent interest subvention, concessional export credit, facilitation of technological upgradation, procedural rationalization, etc. need to be looked into on an urgent basis.

Meanwhile, the new panel, formed at a high-level meeting of Board of Trade (BoT), will submit a report in three months. I think the panel will have its task cut out on finding various thrust areas to increase the country's export competitiveness as also its manufacturing capacity.

With demand still weak in the country's traditional export markets like United States and Europe, industry bodies and export promotion councils need to find key areas and issues which require the government's support or intervention to push exports. For instance, extending the interest subsidy scheme and the market linked focus product scheme will help exporters, particularly in the garment sector, to enjoy the two percent benefit.

The think-tank should also take into account the market realities which have changed considerably in the last couple of years. I find that demand is still weak in the US market and above that new economies like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, China, Vietnam and Turkey are giving stiff competition to Indian exporters for a share of the US market. Let's just hope that the panel will take these issues into consideration when they submit their report.