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Kolkata, Dec. 23 The country’s export sector might register a slowdown during the current financial year and the growth targets for 2009-10 might have to be revised under the current financial situation and global meltdown, said Mr D.K. Sareen, Executive Director, Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC).

The last three months of the current fiscal is crucial for the export sector, Mr Sareen observed. “The last three months are very crucial. There is a spill off effect of the global meltdown on the Indian export sector, we need to wait and watch to what extent we will be impacted. We will take a relook at the growth targets of 2009-10 and might revise it based on the figures we get at the end of the current financial year,” he told newspersons on the sidelines of a curtain raiser press conference on India Soft 2009 here on Tuesday.

India’s exports grew by 30-33 per cent at $43 billion in 2007-08. ESC had set a growth target of $58 billion during the current year in the export sector. “In the first six months period beginning April-September, we have achieved a growth of $25 billion of which $2 billion came from the electronics and hardware sector while the rest was comprised by the software services sector,” he said.

Highlighting the need of venturing into new and emerging markets, Mr Sareen identified Latin America and South Africa as two key markets for Indian exporters. “Our export share to the US is 62 per cent while that to Japan is just three per cent, we need to tap the new and emerging markets,” he said.

Of the total exports of $43 billion, exports to Latin America stood at $150 million, while that to Africa was at $335 million, Mr Sareen pointed out. “E-commerce, e-governance, IT training, banking and financial services, software networking are some of the areas that countries such as Latin America and Africa might be interested in and India should tap these markets,” he said.

At a time when global recession was affecting the country it was time to build necessary resources and infrastructure, said Mr Debesh Das, State IT Minister. “We should prepare a talent pool and build resources in order to progress during these difficult times,” he said.

IndiaSoft 2009 to be held on February 26 and 27, at Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, is being organised by ESC and sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

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