Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal interacted with Heads of the Commercial Wings posted in 74 Indian Missions abroad across 61 countries on 16th July 2025 through video conference to review and strengthen India’s global trade and commercial engagement strategy.

During the meeting, key Indian Missions made detailed presentations on trade promotion activities, challenges in market access, and sectoral insights. The Minister acknowledged the Missions as the first point of contact for India’s commercial and economic diplomacy, underscoring their responsibility in promoting Indian exports and facilitating stronger engagement with host countries.

In his address, the Minister emphasized the need for:

• Proactive trade intelligence gathering, including updates on market trends, sectoral developments, and regulatory frameworks.
• Sharing of innovative strategy and best practices, that yielded good results in trade promotion and attracting investment into India.
• Focus on 4 KPIs i.e., Investment, Trade, Tourism and Technology, which has also been quoted by Hon’ble PM as pillars for India’s growth.
• Regular dissemination of trade advisories to identify demand-supply gaps and opportunities for Indian exporters.
• Strategic interventions to address Market Access Barriers including Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs), Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT).
• Enhanced alignment between Missions and the Department of Commerce through data-driven planning and effective use of digital platforms like the DGFT Trade Connect Portal.
• Collaborative efforts to support India’s objectives in multilateral forums such as the WTO, especially in key areas like agriculture, public stockholding for food security, and fisheries subsidies.

The meeting also addressed operational and logistical challenges, including the need for adequate resources, efficient posting of commercial officers, and improved coordination to support initiatives under the Make in India and Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes.

The Minister called for greater synergy among Missions, Export Promotion Councils (EPCs), and Indian industry stakeholders to achieve the nation’s ambition of becoming a global export powerhouse.

Prior to the Minister's interaction with the mission, the Commerce Secretary started the interaction emphasizing the critical role of Indian missions at abroad for overall growth of Indian export and investment in India to achieve the goal of vision 2047.

Trade promotion: Missions must use intelligence, digital tools and coordinated strategies to remove market access barriers and boost exports. The Minister directed Missions to prioritise proactive trade intelligence, regular trade advisories and sharing of best practices to promote exports and investment; to focus on Investment, Trade, Tourism and Technology KPIs; to undertake strategic interventions against Market Access Barriers including Non Tariff, SPS and TBT measures; and to align with the Department of Commerce through data driven planning and digital platforms while coordinating with Export Promotion Councils and industry to support Make in India and Production Linked Incentive schemes.