The Hindu Business Line : ‘Our aim in WTO is to get better market access for agri sector’

There will be no dilution in India’s demand for bringing down agricultural subsidies by OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development) countries, according to Mr K.T. Chacko, Director, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.

Addressing members of the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce & Industry here on Saturday, Mr Chacko said Indian agriculture was “subsistence agriculture” while that in OECD countries was commercial agriculture.

“India cannot barter away its subsistence agriculture,” he said, and added that the timeframe, speed and formula by which OECD countries would reduce farm subsidies was a core focus area for India in the WTO negotiations.

“Our purpose in WTO is to secure better market access for the agriculture sector,” he said.

Strong case

Mr Chacko presented a strong case for the country to focus on exports despite having huge foreign exchange reserves, reasonably good flow of foreign direct investment and with the capital market, too, attracting funds inflow.

This would be especially important to ensure that the country is able to meet its obligations in the long term — with regard to imports of fuel, edible oils, pulses, fertilisers, etc.

Looking Beyond IT

According to him, for exports in the services sector, India should look beyond IT and ITeS. In the IT domain, there should be a determined shift to high value-added IT and ITeS services.

Among the non-IT services areas that India could focus on were engineering, construction, printing and publishing, accountancy, etc.

Mr Chacko said that both the Government and industry have a role to help boost India’s export earnings. On its part, the Government should look at trade facilitation “holistically”.

The process of refunds should be made faster and import-export procedures should be simplified.

The Government should also boost the confidence of business and put in place a trade defence mechanism to protect industry against dumping, subsidies, etc. Meanwhile, the industry should focus on increasing efficiencies and explore new and less-explored markets globally.

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