The Government released the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), 2009-14 on 27.8.2009 wherein significant support was provided for market diversification and for incentivising exports. The immediate objective of this FTP is to arrest and reverse the declining trend in exports due to unprecedented global economic slowdown and to provide additional support especially to those sectors, which have been hit badly by recession in developed world. The long-term objective is to double India's share in global trade by 2020.

In order to achieve these objectives, Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14 included a mix of policy measures including fiscal incentives, procedural rationalization, enhanced market access across the world and diversification of export markets. The progressive reduction in rate of decline in exports from May 2009 to September, 2009 significantly indicates that the Stimulus Packages announced by Government and RBI and the measures taken in FTP have started showing their impact.

This information was given by Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

Foreign Trade Policy promotes market diversification and fiscal incentives to reverse export decline and expand India's share in global trade. The Foreign Trade Policy establishes a framework to stabilise and reverse export decline and to expand the country's share in world trade by combining fiscal incentives, procedural rationalisation and enhanced market access to promote sectoral support and market diversification; early indicators cited a reduced rate of export decline attributed to the Policy and accompanying stimulus.