Govt confident of $75 bn exports

The government today said it was confident of exports touching the $ 75 billion mark during the current financial year if the present export growth rate of 26 per cent registered during the first five months of the fiscal is sustained.

"The challenge is to strive for sustaining the growth rate at 20 per cent and above for the next five years. The export target for the current financial year 2004-05 is pegged at 16 per cent. But I am determined that we shall exceed this. I want it to be atleast 20 per cent," Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said addressing the Forum of Financial Writers.

Referring to the phasing out of the quota regime in the textiles sector, Nath said, "the issues of capacity expansion, technology upgradation and R&D and infrastructural bottlenecks must be addressed on priority if we are to substantially increase our share of the world textile trade, post MFA".

A national conference on textiles scheduled to be held next month would provide useful insights into the post-quota scenario for India, he said.

Nath said the government had in its foreign trade policy laid special emphasis on manufacturing and services sectors like health care and clinical research, which could help the country emerge as the a global service hub.

The minister said that the Special Economic Zone Act would be introduced soon to boost the confidence of investors about the stability of India's SEZ policy.

He said the government had received about 130 suggestions on the SEZ bill and held discussions with financial institutions to ascertain their views on supporting the venture.

Government has approved 28 SEZs which were in various stages of implementation while three greenfield SEZs were ready for commissioning, he said.

Nath said government was looking at regional trading arrangements and bilateral agreements as bulding blocks for supplementing and complementing its strategy with regard to multilateral trading system.

He said India would be signing a preferential trading agreement with MERCOSUR by December end.

While the country was engaging at a bilateral level, he felt that the Doha round of the world trade organisation could not be completed by December 2005 and would stretch further for another six months.

He pointed out that as the round gets completed and tariffs come down gradually the world over, non-tariff barriers may increase. Nath said there was a need for planning in advance to meet the challenges posed by the new quality and other standards brought about to replace tariffs and quotas.

Government was also in the process of formulating a tea advisory committee to bring back the lost glory of the sector, he said.