Board of Trade to meet on Sep 12 to discuss ways to boost exports

The Board of Trade (BoT) will seek views of various stakeholders such as government departments, states, exporters and industry members on September 12 on ways to boost exports of goods and services, an official said. The high-level board, a top advisory body on external trade, is chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

Issues about free trade agreements and ways to contain non-essential imports too would figure in the meeting, the official said. The government has merged the Council of Trade Development and Promotion with the Board of Trade to bring greater coherence in the consultation process with all stakeholders for promoting exports and imports.

The new board provides a platform to states and union territories for articulating their perspectives on trade policy and help states to develop and pursue export strategies in line with the national foreign trade policy. Besides, the forum advises the government on policy measures for preparation and implementation of short and long term plans.

It would also review export performances of various sectors, identify constraints and suggest industry-specific measures to optimise export earnings and to examine existing institutional framework for imports and exports. Its members include state ministers who are in charge of trade, secretaries of different departments like revenue, commerce, health and agriculture besides NITI Aayog CEO, Deputy Governor RBI, and CBIC chairman.

Presidents and chairpersons of industry chambers among others are ex-officio members. The meeting assumes significance as shipments of some key sectors recorded negative growth in July. It included gems and jewellery (- 6.82 per cent), engineering goods (- 1.69 per cent) and petroleum products (- 5 per cent), according to the commerce ministry data.

During April-July 2019, exports dipped 0.37 per cent to USD 107.41 billion, while imports contracted by 3.63 per cent to USD 166.8 billion.

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