Reduction in costs of doing business and level playing field crucial for better balance of foreign trade : PHD Chamber

No.PR-97 May 23, 2020 New Delhi Reduction in costs of doing business and level playing field crucial for better balance of foreign trade : PHD Chamber PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized a webinar on Impact of pandemic COVID-19 on India’s Foreign Trade: Challenges, Reliefs & Opportunities to discuss the hardships faced by exporters and importers in India amid pandemic COVID-19 and the relief measures provided by the Government to support trade and industry to mitigate the daunting impact of pandemic covid-19. Shri Amit Yadav, Director General, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Government of India and Chief Guest at the webinar appreciated the efforts of PHD Chamber to organize such an interactive session. He said that in view of the extremely difficult and challenging times due to spread of pandemic COVID-19 across the globe, the Government of India has undertaken a holistic approach on the issues and challenges of trade & industry. A calibrated approach has been adopted by the Government to mitigate the impact of pandemic COVID-19 on trade and industry especially for exporters, said Mr. Amit Yadav. There are both opportunities and challenges in the changed world due to the impact of pandemic COVID-19 on economy, trade and industry, said Mr. Yadav. The Government has undertaken immediate measures including setting up of DGFT helpdesk, extension of Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20) and other export promotion schemes upto March 2021, issuance of electronic certificate of origin, among others, said Mr. Amit Yadav Around 100 people from trade and industry participated in the webinar and raised various queries on procedural issues related to foreign trade Dr D K Aggarwal, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry welcomed all the participants in the webinar and appreciated the proactive steps taken by the Government to help trade and industry overcome the wild tide of COVID-19. He said that exporters and importers have been particularly hard hit due to several consignments being stuck at gateways, dry ports and other intermediate nodes. The several relaxations and extensions of deadlines of various export procedures are highly laudable. The announcement of a mega economic relief package of Rs 20 lakh crores along with other reforms announced by the Hon’ble Finance Minister and the recent RBI measures will allow more liquidity in the hands of the exporters thereby helping them in fulfilling their overall export obligations during such difficult and testing times, said Dr. Aggarwal Going forward, trade facilitation measures should be further promoted by the Government to enhance the cost competitiveness of our exporters especially MSMEs to create a level playing field in the country, said Dr D K Aggarwal. Reduced costs of doing business and level playing field in the country will not only increase the competitiveness of our exporters but also reduce imports of the items where there is a capacity to produce them domestically, said Dr. D K Aggarwal Cost competitiveness of our manufacturers will go a long way to promote indigenous production and reduce imports and lead to better balance of foreign trade, said Dr. D K Aggarwal The five costs including costs of capital, costs of compliances, costs of logistics, costs of land and costs of labour needs to be reduced substantially, said Dr. Aggarwal Shri Sanjay Aggarwal, Senior Vice President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry appreciated the timely relief measures announced by the Government to support India’s fight against COVID-19. At this juncture, the speedy implementation of the Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP) scheme and provision of additional MEIS benefit for the labour-intensive sectors will significantly boost the competitiveness of our exporters, said Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal He urged the Government to consider reviewing and further simplifying the framework/ provisions under the Advance Autrhorisation Scheme for deriving the maximum export benefits and to make them competitive to achieve a higher export growth trajectory The other eminent trade and industry experts who addressed the webinar include Shri Vijay Kumar, Additional DGFT, Government of India, Shri Vijay Mehta, Chair, Foreign Trade and Investment Committee, PHD Chamber, Shri N K Gupta, Chair, Indirect Taxes Committee, PHD Chamber, Shri Nirmal Khandelwal, Co-Chair, Foreign Trade and Investment Committee, PHD Chamber, Shri R S Bedi, Managing Committee Member, PHD Chamber, Shri Sanjay Beswal, Former Co-Chair, Foreign Trade and Investment Committee, PHD Chamber, Shri Saurabh Sanyal, Secretary General, PHD Chamber and Dr S P Sharma, Chief Economist, PHD Chamber. Ends. Media Division PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry