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The Commerce and Industry Ministry would not hold the customary high-level board of trade meeting before finalising the new foreign trade policy (FTP), to be announced on April 1.
“There will be no such meeting this time. All the work is over for the FTP. The Ministry has consulted all the stakeholders for the policy,” a senior official told PTI.
Board of Trade (BoT) is normally constituted before the FTP, and is chaired by the Commerce and Industry Minister to discuss measures to boost exports. FTP has been delayed by a year.
BoT is a top advisory body on external trade whose members include top industry leaders and representatives of exporters body FIEO and export promotion councils.
The views of the members are included in FTP.
President of Federation of Indian Exports Organisation (FIEO) Rafeeq Ahmed said that holding consultations with sector specific exporters is much more beneficial than the BoT meeting.
“Unless it (BoT) is structurally changed, it has no relevance,” Ahmed said.
The government will announce incentives in the new FTP to boost exports and contain trade deficit.
The country’s exports are in the negative zone for the last three months. Exports dipped 15 per cent in February. Due to this, it is difficult for the country to achieve the export target of $340 billion for this fiscal.
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