New foreign trade policy with a focus on MSME, economic zones, AI

India’s forthcoming foreign trade policy will aim to help MSMEs build their financial capacity, establish special zones for e-commerce exports and develop new mechanisms to support services related to artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.

The Department of Trade and Industry is currently reviewing the existing foreign trade policy. As part of this, she is considering improving the resilience of Indian trade to be prepared for unforeseen events such as the Covid-19 pandemic and integrating Nari Shakti (girl power) into international trade and value chains to attract women to export-oriented companies encourage.

The current policy was announced on April 1, 2015 and extended to March 31, 2023. As part of the new policy, due to be published by the end of this month, the government may announce a vision and strategy document to create the roadmap for exports of goods and services from January 1st.

Officials said about 10 chapters would be part of the document.

“We are working on ways to facilitate e-commerce exports and talks are ongoing on establishing e-commerce zones along the lines of Software Technology Parks of India,” said an official, adding that detailed strategies for the promotion of e-commerce and to further develop Brand India. The e-commerce zones could provide all the facilities in one place, including banks, fintech companies, customs clearance, and logistics and courier services, along with a separate storage room.

The new trade strategy aims to boost India’s exports of goods and services, which are expected to reach $750 billion in the current fiscal year, compared to $676 billion in fiscal 2022.

Trade Minister Sunil Barthwal said the ministry has studied various aspects of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) as it is basically a collection of different incentive schemes.

Officials also add a vision aspect to the policy, as the ministry aims to increase exports of goods and services to $2 trillion by 2030.

Source: www.maritimegateway.com