Piyush Goyal Calls for Stronger Export Facilitation, FTA Utilisation & Trade Reforms

New Delhi, Sep 24 (KNN) Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal held an interaction with industry stakeholders on Ease of Doing Business, Free Trade Agreement (FTA) opportunities and trade-related reforms at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.

Goyal outlined plans to strengthen export facilitation through integrated Commerce and Industry offices in major cities, providing businesses access to multiple government departments and agencies from a common location.

The Trade Connect platform is also being developed to provide product-wise and HSN-code-wise information on tariffs, FTA opportunities and procedures for claiming FTA benefits. 

The platform is expected to use digital and AI-enabled tools to identify export opportunities and infrastructure gaps.

Industry representatives raised issues related to FTA utilisation, trade documentation, logistics costs, standards and testing, rules of origin, regulatory processes and interoperability between government systems. 

They also sought greater integration of the export process involving DGFT, Customs, banks and other stakeholders.

The industry also highlighted electronic transmission and verification of Certificates of Origin under FTAs and suggested extending such systems to other trading partners. Sector-specific concerns included import competition, supply-chain issues and regulatory certainty for MSMEs.

Representatives from the roller chain and industrial components sector said recent measures, including Quality Control Orders, Minimum Import Price provisions and higher import duties, had contributed to a reported 15-fold expansion, around Rs 500 crore in fresh investment and about 5,000 new jobs.

DPIIT officials also presented reforms covering the National Single Window System, Startup India, intellectual property, investment facilitation, industrial infrastructure and PESO-related processes, with discussions focusing on digitalisation and reducing regulatory compliance.

(KNN Bureau)