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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with Heads of Indian Missions in different countries and other stakeholders in the area of trade and commerce on Friday to focus on ways to expand India’s share in global trade by utilising local capabilities
“The event will mark a clarion call by the Prime Minister for ‘Local Goes Global – Make in India for the World’,” according to an official release issued by the Commerce & Industry Ministry. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will also participate in the virtual event.
Covid setback
India’s exports suffered a setback in 2020-21 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and outbound shipments declined by 7.26 per cent (year-on-year) to $290.63 billion.
However, things seem to be on the improving with exports, in the April-July 2021 period, at $130.53 billion, up by 73.51 per cent over the same period of 2020 and by 21.82 per cent over same period of 2019. An ambitious export target of $400 billion has been set for the current fiscal by the Commerce Ministry.
Also read: Exports surge 48% to $35 b in July; imports up 59% to $46 b
“Exports have a huge employment generation potential, especially for MSMEs and high labour-intensive sectors, with a cascading effect on the manufacturing sector and the overall economy. The purpose of the interaction is to provide a focussed thrust to leverage and expand India’s export and its share in global trade,” the release added.
Missions’ important role
The PM’s interaction with the Heads of Indian missions is important as they have been playing an important role, especially since last year, in pushing India’s exports.
As part of the MEA’s effort, the Indian missions have been directed to flag non-tariff barriers in their countries of operation, and also identify new items that can be exported from India and imports that can be substituted through domestic production.
Several missions have also been playing an important role in getting Indian exporters in touch with foreign buyers by holding virtual conferences with the cooperation of Indian export bodies.
The interaction will also witness participation of Secretaries of more than twenty departments, State government officials, members of Export Promotion Councils and Chambers of Commerce.
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