Goyal calls for consistent strengthening of DGFT and other bodies to promote investment and trade
The Department of Commerce is being revamped to be future ready and facilitate the creation of the ecosystem necessary to manage US$2 trillion exports by 2027, a target agreed by all stakeholders in the trade.
Speaking at the revamp meeting on 20 Feb 2022, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal called for the consistent strengthening of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and other organizations as well as bodies that promote investment and trade.
He opined that constant monitoring of exports was crucial in ensuring the achievement of US$2 trillion target on time.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has highlighted several emerging opportunities in international trade owing to shifts in global trade dynamics like rapid growth of services and disruptive potential of climate change.
There is thus an imminent need to proactively develop exports and build India’s brand in global trade, added the Ministry.
The revamping of the Commerce Department is aimed at further building on its strategic direction and aspirations for the next decade. There is also a need for scaling up and re-engineering the operation model with enhanced ‘new-age’ capabilities and to move from inherent traditional roles to new roles.
The revamped Department is to have a more coherent trade promotion strategy with clear targets and execution accountabilities. There will be a strengthened negotiation ecosystem with right expertise and robust end-to-end processes with clearly defined focus areas and institutions.
It aspires to achieve an optimal mix of talent with specialists and generalists sourced from across private and government sectors. The Department will have an agile setup responsive to market opportunities and exporter needs via interlinkages across bodies.
There will also be synergized branding for India across all domains, highlighting clear priority areas.
To this end, a project was undertaken to design a future ready Department of Commerce. Certain key recommendations were made by the project.
A dedicated ‘Trade Promotion Body’ to drive overall promotion strategy, export targets and execution has been proposed. A stronger active role for missions in Trade Promotion for market intelligence, leads generation and localized research has been envisaged.
Strengthening Negotiations via multi-skilled negotiation teams and separation between bilateral and WTO negotiations has been envisioned, said the Ministry.
A ‘Trade Remedies Review Committee’ has been proposed and would comprise of Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Finance and line ministries for transparency in investigations outcomes.
Also recommended is the centralization and digitization of trade facilitation processes for ease of compliance and scheme administration.
The proposals include rehauling data and analytics ecosystem via centralized data management and embedded analytics capabilities in the Department of Commerce. It calls for a concerted push to strengthen Brand India and re-enforces trade priorities which are in the works. fiinews.com
