New Delhi, May 9: Senior government representatives are set to meet some top leaders of India Inc to thrash out the problems of exports, which are growing at a slow pace.
The meeting of the board of trade (BoT), scheduled to meet next week, will take up stimulus to boost exports, steps to arrest the slide in shipments and measures to contain the widening trade deficit.
A senior commerce ministry official said, "The views expressed in the BoT will be reflected in the annual edition of the foreign trade policy (to be unveiled later this month)."
The BoT, an advisory body to the commerce ministry, has representations from business associations and trade bodies such as the Engineering Export Promotion Council and Federation of Indian Export Organisations (Fieo).
With commerce minister Anand Sharma as the chairman, members of the BoT include Anand Mahindra and ITC's Yogi Deveshwar.
The meeting, which offers a platform for direct interaction between the government and industry, will deliberate on procedural simplification and policy measures to mitigate the fallout of the global economic slowdown.
Fieo president Rafeeque Ahmed said more incentives were required to sustain the market and product diversification strategies.
"The government should provide necessary competitiveness to exports by providing lower rate of credit by re-introducing interest subvention, rebating of state and local taxes, and providing marketing support to micro and small enterprises through the creation of an export development fund," he said.
A. Sakthivel, chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council, has asked the government to provide 2 per cent interest subsidy to the sector.
"It is requested that 2 per cent interest subvention may be given in 2012-13 so that exporters can tide themselves over the tight monetary situation," he said.
Officials said bringing down the trade deficit, which had touched $184.9 billion in the last fiscal from $118 billion 2010-11, was a major concern.
While exports have shown a growth of 21 per cent in 2011-12, the momentum is difficult to maintain in 2012-13 as the situation in Europe is still not good.
