Commerce Min, Indian mission officials to hold talks to boost exports

Senior officials from the commerce ministry, and commercial wings of Indian Missions of 20 countries will hold a three-day meet, beginning here on Monday, to discuss ways to promote exports of goods and services, an official said.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will also interact with these commercial representatives on January 6.

The issues, which would come up during the three-day celebration included opportunities and challenges and the way ahead in six focus sectors (of goods and services each) in 20 countries of significance; non-tariff barriers; logistics; WTO (World Trade Organisation) matters; and role and importance of MAI (market access initiative), the official said.

 

The commerce ministry is in the process of formulating a strategy to push exports of six key product categories, including engineering goods and electronics, to 20 focus countries, including the US, Australia, France, China, Russia, the UK, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Indonesia.

These countries, including the US and the European Union nations, account for a major chunk of India's total exports.

Besides Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal, Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Amardeep Singh Bhatia would also address the officials.

After recording double-digit growth in October 2024, India's exports in November contracted 4.85 per cent year-on-year to USD 32.11 billion, while the trade deficit widened to an all-time high of USD 37.84 billion due to record surge in gold imports.

According to the commerce ministry data, imports rose 27 per cent year-on-year to a record USD 69.95 billion in November due to high inbound shipments of vegetable oil, fertiliser, and silver.

Cumulatively, during April-November this fiscal year, exports increased 2.17 per cent to USD 284.31 billion and imports by 8.35 per cent to USD 486.73 billion.

Trade deficit, the difference between imports and exports, during April-November widened to USD 202.42 billion from USD 170.98 billion during April-November 2023.

Barthwal said last month that the ministry is focusing on 20 countries and six services and manufacturing sectors including IT/ITeS to further boost the shipments.

Services exports reached an all-time high of USD 34.31 billion in October, registering an increase of 22.3 per cent year-on-year.