Suresh Prabhu addressing 4^thmeeting of Council for Trade Development and Promotion in New Delhi

Union Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, chaired the 4^th meeting of the Council for Trade Development and Promotion (CTDP) in New Delhi today.

Speaking at the meeting he called upon States/ UTs to explore all possible ways of tapping into the global value and supply chain by promoting the export of services, organic agricultural produce, in corporate value addition to agricultural products and fully utilize all the schemes and programmes of the Government of India. This will not only add to the GDP of the country but will also create greater employment.

The Minister said that all States/ UTsmust formulate an export strategy which is state specific and product specific and improve logistics and infrastructure in their region.

Suresh Prabhu informed those attending the meeting that the Government of India has formulated an Agricultural Export Policy for the first timewith a focused plan to boost India’s agricultural exports to USD 60 billion by 2022. This will integrate Indian farmers and India’s high quality agricultural products with global value chains and also double India’s share in world agriculture exports.

The Commerce Minister informed the Council that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with the World Bank conducts an annual reform exercise for all States/ UTs under the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) to improve delivery of various Central Government regulatory functions and services in an efficient, effective and transparent manner. This exercise will now be undertaken at the district level in close collaboration withStates/ UTs.

Suresh Prabhu informed the Council regarding efforts being made by the Central Government in preparing a development plan for each and every district so that growth is led from the district upwards which will be a game changer in taking India’s GDP to USD 5 trillion in 2025.

He urged the States/ UTs to make use of the 5000 crore allotted for 12 champion services sector which will lead to the creation of jobs in the services sector like Information Technology & Information Technology enabled Services (IT &ITeS), Tourism and Hospitality Services, Medical Value Travel, Transport and Logistics Services, Accounting and Finance Services, Audio Visual Services, Legal Services, Communication Services, Construction and Related Engineering Services, Environmental Services, Financial Services and Education Services.

The Commerce Minister said that every State/ UTs of India has the potential for getting Geographical Indication tag for many products of that area. Also, States/UTs must use the benefits given by the Central Government for specific sectors like leather where ₹ 2600 crore was sanctioned by the Cabinet for the development of leather and footwear industry.

The Minister of State of Commerce & Industry, C. R. Chaudhary, urged the States/UTs to take full advantage of the Trade Infrastructure for Exports Scheme (TIES) to improve export competitiveness. C. R. Chaudhary also said that for North-Eastern States matching support of equal to or more will be provided by the Central Government under TIES.  

Representatives of 10 states/ UTs attended the meeting and flagged various issues impeding exports from their regions like logistics for smooth transportation of goods and creation of warehouses/cold chain for perishable agriculture produce. Ministers/ officials from various States/ UTs also spoke about the schemes being implemented for facilitating exports, technology upgradation of existing manufacturing clusters and efforts to generate more employment.

The Council for Trade Development and Promotion provides a platform to the States/UTs to articulate their expectations and also focuses on the need for all States/UTs to create suitable infrastructure in their regions which will help in developing competitiveness in their exports.

Ministers from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Nagaland, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh spoke during the meeting. The Secretary Commerce, Dr.AnupWadhawan, Secretary Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ramesh Abhishek, Special Secretary Logistics in the Department of Commerce, N. Sivasailam, Secretary Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, Dr.Arun Kumar Panda, Seniors officers from other Ministries and Departments of Government of India and representatives of ASSOCHAM, FICCI, CII and FIEO were also present at the meeting of the Council.

CTDP was constituted in July 2015, to ensure a continues dialogue with State Governments/UTs on measures for providing International Trade enabling environments. It also seeks to create a framework for making States/ UTs active partners in boosting India’s export.

The Union Commerce & Industry Minister is Chairperson of CTDP Ministers’ in-charge of Trade and Commerce in State Governments/ UTs are its members. Besides 14 secretaries of Central Government, including Commerce, Revenue, Shipping, Civil Aviation, Agriculture, Food Processing and Economic Affairs are also its members.

Export promotion strategy urged to integrate farmers into global value chains and boost agricultural and services exports. States and Union Territories must formulate state- and product-specific export strategies, improve logistics and infrastructure, and fully utilise central schemes to promote services exports, value-added and organic agricultural produce. The Centre has an Agricultural Export Policy aimed at expanding agricultural exports and will extend the Business Reform Action Plan to the district level to improve regulatory delivery. Targeted support includes funds for champion services sectors, incentives for Geographical Indication registrations, and the Trade Infrastructure for Exports Scheme with additional matching support for the North-Eastern States.