During October 2016 exports have shown a positive growth of 9.59% in Dollar terms (12.43% higher in Rupee term). During October, 2016 exports were valued at US$ 23512.70 million (Rs.156941.86 crore) as compared to US$ 21456.11 million (Rs.139589.17 crore) during October 2015. Cumulative value of exports for the period April-October 2016-17 was US$ 154913.20 million (Rs.1036417.49 crore) as against US$ 155179.35 million (Rs.998211.69 crore) in October 2015-16, registering a negative growth of 0.17 per cent in Dollar terms and positive growth of 3.83 per cent in Rupee terms.
Imports during October 2016 were valued at US$ 33673.53 million (Rs.224763.10 crore) which was 8.11 per cent higher in Dollar terms and 10.91 per cent higher in Rupee terms over the level of imports valued at US$ 31148.33 million (Rs.202644.79) in October, 2015. Cumulative value of imports for the period April-October 2016-17 was US$ 208083.15 million (Rs.1392221.35 crore) as against US$ 233417.95 million (Rs.1501290.90 crore) registering a negative growth of 10.85 per cent in Dollar terms and 7.27 per cent in Rupee terms over the same period last year. Overall the trade balance has improved.
On the other hand, the impact of US President-Elect Donald Trump’s announcement to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) after assuming office in January is being felt in India’s trade pact talks with 15 other countries under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Experts feel that with TPP unlikely to move as expected, developed countries have pinned their hopes on RCEP for some preferential treatment and trade concessions. With Mr. Trump’s statements on trade, an anti-trade sentiment was engulfing everyone.
In this context The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry presented its first ever EXIM Summit which was the Inaugural Edition in the International Trade sector for the Chamber on the occasion of the India International Mega Trade Fair (IIMTF).
A five-year foreign trade policy structurally represents a medium-term economic plan aiming to achieve key goals. The macroeconomic goal is to increase India’s share in world merchandise and services exports from 2% at present to 3.5%. Translated in numbers, the increase would imply doubling exports from just under $500 billion to close to $1 trillion over a five-year period with annual average increases of roughly 20%. Around 65% of India’s current export earnings are from merchandise exports, while the rest is from services. It is not clear whether the total increase proposed by the policy assumes this current ratio to be maintained over time. If it does then it entails annual increases of around $65 billion and $35 billion respectively in merchandise and service exports from their baseline levels.
India is not a global producer of necessities. It does not have ample resources of oil, gas, minerals and nuclear material for feeding the rest of the world. Nor does it have as broad a manufacturing base producing as cheap and varied items as China. Its exports can crack the world market only if they are efficient, say, for example, from cheap production, or from unique features, like design or other specific attributes like environment-friendly features. The problem is that it is not only Indian producers who are aiming to secure efficiency-based comparative advantages. Most of the rest of the world is. And India does not appear to be doing too well in this regard.
In the future benchmarking the Logistics services would be instrumental in determining the growth of the sector. The focus was also on Trade Finance in part B of our Inaugural Session.
The overall aim of the Summit was to analyze the impact of the New FT Policy and understand the state of trade finance and how benchmarking logistics services would be instrumental in creating a boost in the export market. The EXIM Summit focused on the procedural, policy, trade finance, logistics and bilateral trade issues confronting the EXIM community. Our endeavour was to address at a common forum the growth issues for exporters and importers in this region.
The summit was addressed by Mr. SBS Reddy, Additional DG, Directorate General of Foreign Trade who gave the keynote address. Mr. R K Mondal, Dy. General Manager, Agriculture & Processed food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) addressed the session with a Special Remark on Opportunities for Agriculture & Processed food Products in accordance with the new EXIM Policy and Mr. Prabhat Bezboruah, Chairman, Tea Research Association addressed the session with a Special Remark on Opportunities in Tea Industry in accordance with the new EXIM Policy. Part B of the Inaugural Session witnessed the presence of Mr. Amal Chakravorty, VP – East, Indian Institute of Materials Management who delivered an address on Harnessing Untapped Potentials in Supply Chain and Logistics Sectors. Mrs. Padmavathy Rajshekharan, GM, National Marketing Division, ECGC spoke on Managing Credit Risk in a volatile economy. Mr. Partha Pratim Sengupta, Chief General Manager, State Bank of India & Mr. Debasish Mallick, Deputy Managing Director, EXIM Bank were the guests of Honour of the programme. Mr. Sengupta gave a Special Remark on “Opportunities in the East: SBI’s role as a facilitator with vast network and wide global presence” and Mr. Mallick focused on the “Strategy behind changing product-centric approach with Export Credits and Export Capability Creation, to a more customer-centric approach”. Dr. Nahid Rashid, Counselor Commercial, High Commission of Bangladesh addressed the Special Plenary Session on “Opportunities of Investment & Trade with Bangladesh”. The summit was attended by many MSME exporters from various sectors, corporate houses, consultants, banks and institutes.