Private companies entry, data thrust, promotion body part of commerce dept recast
India’s official trade setup is set for a recast with a central trade promotion body, inclusion of private sector in the Indian Trade Service and a trade-focused data ecosystem being planned. The commerce department is being restructured as the government aims at $2 trillion of exports by 2030.
“We have restructured the entire department of commerce to make it relevant to the 21st century. Efforts are on to make India a developed country by 2047,” said commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal while releasing the department’s recast dossier on Tuesday.
Noting that the plan is to make a modern and contemporary department of commerce, he said it rests on five objectives-increasing India’s share in global trade; assume a leadership role in multilateral organisations like the WTO and expand bilateral engagement through free trade agreements; democratisation of trade, create 100 Indian brands as global champions that’s Indian multinationals, and setting up economic zones and industrial hubs across the country to strengthen the manufacturing and services base to encourage investments.
“A trade promotion body, which we propose to form, will drive formulation and execution of strategies… Indian Trade Service can infuse new talent through government recruitment and private sector,” he said.
Global consulting major Boston Consulting Group has made these suggestions and the ministry will take all these reports for inter-ministerial talks.
On being asked about the export target, Goyal said: “We had almost finalised the target but we were waiting for the geopolitical situation to sort out and things to stabilise. Right now, it doesn’t look to be like stabilising, so we will freeze the target (soon).. we are on track on the target we had set in the beginning of the year”.
At a separate event, Goyal said that the Centre is keen to use Artificial Intelligence in the government e-marketplace procurement process to make it more effective and sought industry cooperation to achieve this. He also asked the industry to become whistleblowers, share if they are facing any issues of harassment and stressed that these would be openly addressed.
Exports sight
“In the 75th year (of Independence), we will cross $750 billion, of which $470-480 billion will be goods,” Subrahmanyam said, adding that a new scheme to help states get into exports is being mulled.
He said the government is seriously looking at the issue of trade deficit and will push exports “a lot” while acknowledging that imports of pulses, fuel, coal and edible oils are inelastic.
The secretary also said the trade deficit, which crossed $100 billion in the first four months of the current fiscal, will not cross the “discomfort level”.
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