Piyush Goyal chairs the first meeting of the newly reconstituted Board of Trade
Government’s policies must be transparent,
consistent and honest; they must be capable of delivering what was promised: Piyush
Goyal
Minister calls for more transparency and ease of doing business in India
29 new non-official members invited for the first time to the meeting
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer
Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal today said that
exports have been one of the most defining features of the government's efforts
to make India a developed country by 2047, a vision articulated by PM Shri
Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day address to the nation this year. Goyal
said this in his opening remarks at the meeting of the reconstituted Board of
Trade in New Delhi.
The Minister said that global confidence in India’s
prospects for growth were truly immense and called on the domestic industry to
overcome all weaknesses when it comes to grabbing the plethora of growth
opportunities available to the nation. The world is already looking at India as
a super power, he added.
Goyal 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, the Minister said that government’s policies must be robust
enough to deliver what was promised to the people.
The Commerce and Industry Minister also spoke of the need
to find ways to encourage people to comply and bring in transparency and ease
of doing business. India should become an honest country, he added. He announced
that Prime
Minister Narendra Modi will release the Logistics Policy on 17th September.
Stating that Trade is
a strong pillar to achieve the five vows that Prime Minister Narendra Modi
spoke of on 15th August, Goyal expressed confidence that today's meeting
reflects the collective belief of all of us in working towards achieving a
developed India.
Goyal stressed on the
need to enter into more FTAs with developed nations. He urged participants of
the Board of Trade meeting to focus on the possibilities each sector has in
FTAs.
Concluding his address, Goyal said all the issues raised
by the participants will be addressed and the suggestions made by them in the
Meeting today will be considered.
The Board of Trade meeting focused on export target
setting, the new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) (2022-27), and the strategies and
measures to be taken in order to take forward domestic manufacturing and
exports. Board of Trade (BOT) has been constituted by merging Council for Trade
Development and Promotion with Board of Trade vide notification No. 11/2015-20
dt 17th July 2019. The Board of Trade, inter alia, 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 state governments and UTs for
articulating state-oriented perspectives on Trade Policy. It also acts as a
platform to Government of India for appraising State Governments and UTs about
international developments affecting India’s trade. It is an important
mechanism for deliberations on trade related issues with industry bodies,
associations, export promotion councils, and state and UT governments.
There were 29 new non-official members who were also
invited for the first time in this 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,
restructuring of the Department of Commerce, FTAs and way forward, States
export performance, District as Export Hubs, new proposed Foreign Trade Policy,
trade remedial, trade facilitation measures undertaken by customs, Government
e-Marketplace etc.
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 the external trade.
The inaugural ceremony saw the participation of Ministers
of State for Commerce and Industry, Som Parkash and Anupriya Patel, Commerce
Secretary, BVR Subrahmanyam, Revenue Secretary, Tarun Bajaj, Director General
of Foreign Trade, Santosh Sarangi, Secretary Department of Financial Services,
Sanjay Malhotra, Member Customs, Rajiv Talwar 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.