New Delhi, Nov 6 (KNN) The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has welcomed the decision taken by the Government on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in national interest.

''A vibrant manufacturing holds the key to exports. Duty free imports from China, which has an economy of scale, and sitting on huge inventory and capacity could have jolted the manufacturing beyond recovery and thus crippling exports,'' said FIEO President Sharad Kumar Saraf.

However, Saraf pleaded to make manufacturing competitive by reducing the cost of credit, bringing down logistics cost, rebating all state taxes and levies and addressing inverted duty structure. He suggested that the share of manufacturing in GDP should go up by 1 percentage point every year so that we increase its share to 25% in the next 10 years.

India on Monday decided not to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) because concerns about getting swamped by imports under the agreement — putting its domestic industry and agriculture at risk — haven’t been assuaged. The RCEP, which includes China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), aims to cover about a third of the world economy and half its population.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said the decision not to join RCEP will boost ‘Make in India’ as he lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “bold and courageous decision to not join RCEP, since it was against our economic interests and national priorities”.

India runs a large trade deficit with RCEP countries and was looking for specific protection for its industry and farmers from a surge in imports, especially from China. The decision comes amid rising opposition at home with leading political parties stepping up attacks on the RCEP.

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