In order to alleviate the burden on exporters and to make Indian exports competitive and on par with global best practices, India has to first develop a framework with a stable policy that is internationally acceptable, consistent and robust and then look for solutions within that framework based on trust, integrity and due diligence, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.
The Minister said greater transparency has to be brought into the work being done by government organizations, export promotion councils and financial institutions.
He said in an opening address to a meeting, held on issues related to export credit with representatives of exporters organisations like FIEO, Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), representatives of exporters organisations, Finance Ministry officials and heads of financial institutions.
Mr Goyal said today’s meeting with stakeholders has been called to address this significant challengeand to redress the situation based on the inputs given by participating organizations and institutions.
The Minister said timely and efficient availability of export credit is critical for any trade activity and is one of the key drivers that boost growth of export.
“The time has come when we should move away from subsidies to easy availability of cheaper credit to exporters,” he added.
He said in the past few years the share of export credit has come down and this is a cause of concern especially for the MSME sector that suffers due to demand of collateral from lending institutions.
Mr Goyal said transparency will ensure that the genuine competitive advantages of India’s exports may be harnessed.
The Minister hoped that outcomes of today’s meeting with all stakeholders will not only provide a vision for the export sector but will also give a road map for implementation and action by government departments and financial institutions.
He also hoped that the result of this meeting will lead to export credit tripling in the next five years and allow India to be on par with the rest of the world where credit is cheaper and interest rates are lower.
Ministers of State for Commerce and Industry Hardeep Singh Puri and Som Parkash, Commerce Secretary, Anup Wadhawan, Secretary MSME, Dr Arun Kumar Panda, Director General of Foreign Trade, Alok Vardhan Chaturvedi and senior officials of the Department of Commerce also attended the daylong meeting.
