Exim Policy work gets rolling

Kamal Nath to meet exporters today before setting export target

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath will kick-off the consultation process for the Exim Policy tomorrow. The consultation will be followed by the government setting the annual target for exports.

Organised by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, the interactive session tomorrow will be the first in a series of such meetings.

The session will be attended by export promotion councils, commodity boards, trade associations and leading exporters.

Although no date for the policy announcement had been fixed so far, Kamal Nath had indicated that the statement, focusing on the reduction of transaction costs and simplification of procedures, would be announced in late June or early July.

Officials said the minister had been holding discussions with various divisions in the departments of commerce and industrial policy and promotion.

While DIPP officials briefed Kamal Nath on the foreign direct investment policy on Monday, the commerce department's trade policy division made a detailed presentation yesterday on the state of matters on multilateral trade negotiations and India's strategy.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade made a presentation to the minister today, listing out the areas that required attention and also provided a background on the forthcoming Exim Policy.

Officials said the minister had sought details on various issues from the departments to improve his understanding of them.

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Getting started

• The commerce minister had indicated that the Exim Policy would be announced in late June or early July
• The policy will focus on ways to reduce transaction cost and simplification of procedures
• The minister has been holding talks with various divisions in the commerce and industrial policy and promotion departments