ADITYA RAJ DAS / NEW DELHI
Union minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has said that exports have been one of the most defining features of the government’s efforts to make India a developed country by 2047. He said it is a vision articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address to the nation this year.
In his opening remarks at the meeting of the reconstituted Board of Trade in New Delhi, Mr. Goyal said, global confidence in India’s prospects for growth are truly immense. He called upon the domestic industry to overcome all weaknesses when it comes to grabbing the plethora of growth opportunities available to the nation. The Minister said the world is already looking at India as a superpower.
He highlighted that in the last few years there has been an attempt for foundational transformation in India which has hastened India’s march to be a developed nation. Calling for transparent, consistent, honest policies, Mr. Goyal said that government’s policies must be robust enough to deliver what was promised to the people.
He also spoke of the need to find ways to encourage people to comply and bring in transparency and ease of doing business. Mr. Goyal said India should become an honest country. The Minister announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release the Logistics Policy on 17th of this month.
Stating that Trade is a strong pillar to achieve the five vows that Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of on 15th August, Mr. Goyal expressed confidence that today’s meeting reflects the collective belief of all in working towards achieving a developed India.
He also stressed the need to enter into more FTAs with developed nations. The Minister urged participants of the Board of Trade meeting to focus on the possibilities each sector has in FTAs.
The Board of Trade meeting focused on export target setting, the new Foreign Trade Policy 2022-27 and the strategies and measures to be taken in order to take forward domestic manufacturing and exports. The Board of Trade has been constituted by merging Council for Trade Development and Promotion with Board of Trade through a notification on 17th July 2019.
The Board of Trade advises the Government on policy measures connected with the Foreign Trade Policy in order to achieve the objectives of boosting India’s trade. There are 29 new non-official members who were also invited for the first time in this Board of Trade meeting. Ministers from states made interventions in the meeting, giving their state-specific suggestions and also expressed their support to the central government initiatives in promoting external trade.