Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal announces commencement of work on Trade Connect ePlatform

NEW DELHI : Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal chaired the second meeting of the reconstituted Board of Trade held at Bharat Mandapam, here on Tuesday. Shri Goyal announced initiation of work on Trade Connect ePlatform, an intermediary platform providing the facility to connect Indian exporters and entrepreneurs with various stakeholders in international trade will commence shortly.

The ePlatform is expected to provide facilitation for new and aspiring exporters, information on various regulations to access markets, sectors, export trends, easy access of benefits under Free Trade Agreements, access to sector specific events along with a facility to address trade related queries to officials in Government of India and associated entities to get expert advice. The platform is likely to be ready in 3-4 months’ time period.

In his opening remarks, Shri Goyal said that the Board of Trade meeting is an opportunity to deliberate on the key issues including how to leverage the FTAs for our benefit, how to encourage the Startups/MSMEs to go beyond our borders and start exporting, boosting exports also from the services sector which remains a key driver of export growth from the country.

Shri Goyal stressed on the need to internationalise the goods and services to help in improving the quality of the products and also to have economies of scale. He further emphasied on making exports a people’s movement with the States, Centre and the Industry, all playing an equal role in accelerating Indian exports.

The Minister emphasised on the pro-active role to be played by the States/UTs to achieve higher exports and contribute to the nation building process. He further assured that all the issues raised by the participants will be addressed and the suggestions made by them in the meeting today will be considered by the concerned. While talking of potential in service exports, the Minister emphasised on Education, Tourism and Audio-Visual services as the areas with huge potential.

The Board of Trade meeting focused on reviewing the export performance to achieve the $2 trillion export target for year 2030, the priorities identified in the new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 and the strategies and measures to be adopted in order to take forward the export growth. The reconstituted Board of Trade provides an opportunity to have regular discussions and consultations with trade and industry and advises the Government on policy measures connected with the Foreign Trade Policy in order to achieve the objectives of boosting India’s trade.

It provides a platform to the State governments and UTs for sharing State-oriented perspectives on exports. It also acts as a platform for the Government of India for appraising State and UTs about international developments affecting India’s trade and the role States and UTs can play in promotiong exports. It remains an important mechanism for deliberations on trade related issues with Industry bodies, Associations, Export Promotion Councils, and State/UT governments. The 29 non-official members were also invited for the Board of Trade meeting.

During the Board of Trade meeting, presentations were made on a variety of subjects such as India’s Import/ Export Performance and State export performance, PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan Multimodal Connectivity, Leveraging FTAs for boosting export growth, discussion on foreign trade vision, trade facilitation measures undertaken by customs, Convergence and expansion of Government e-Marketplace, reforms in Indian patent system, Intervention to boost Pharma exports etc.

Ministers from the States made interventions in the meeting, giving their State-specific suggestions, and also expressed their commitment to creating a favorable ecosystem in promoting the external trade.

The meeting saw the participation of Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Ms. Anupriya Patel, Commerce Secretary, Shri Sunil Barthwal, Special Secretary, Logistics Smt. Sumita Dawra, Director General of Foreign Trade, Shri Santosh Sarangi and other senior officials and members of Indian Industry.

The meeting was attended by various State Ministers and other senior officials of key line ministries and States, all major trade and industry bodies, Export Promotion Councils and industry associations.