India Strengthens Global Trade Strategy with Focus on 20 Key Nations

ENA Global 2025-01-09 16:01:43 New Delhi, Jan 9 (KNN) Senior officials from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, along with representatives from the commercial wings of Indian Missions in 20 countries, wrapped up a crucial meeting on Wednesday, aimed at boosting Indias exports of goods and services. The deliberations, chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, addressed country-specific and sector-specific opportunities in trade, technology, investment, and tourism. Together, we explored ways to strengthen India's global leadership and foster deeper international collaborations, Goyal shared on X, summarising the events significance. Discussions centred on overcoming non-tariff barriers, logistics challenges, WTO-related matters, and leveraging the Market Access Initiative (MAI) to expand Indias global reach. Officials highlighted six key focus sectors, covering both goods and services, for enhanced export strategies targeting 20 major countries, including the US, Australia, China, Russia, and France. These nations, which include prominent EU members and economic hubs such as Japan and South Korea, account for a substantial portion of Indias trade. The ministry aims to tap into this potential by promoting exports of products like engineering goods and electronics while boosting services in IT/ITeS, tourism, and other priority sectors. The meeting gains importance amidst fluctuating export trends. After recording robust growth in October 2024, India's merchandise exports contracted by 4.85 per cent year-on-year in November, reaching USD 32.11 billion. However, services exports have shown resilience, achieving a record USD 34.31 billion in October, up 22.3 per cent year-on-year. Cumulatively, Indias exports during April-November of this fiscal year rose by 2.17% to USD 284.31 billion, while imports surged by 8.35 per cent to USD 486.73 billion. This widened the trade deficit to USD 202.42 billion from USD 170.98 billion during the same period last year. The commerce ministrys strategy reflects its commitment to enhancing Indias trade partnerships and addressing sectoral challenges, as it works to reinforce the nations position in the global marketplace. For real-time business updates and stock market insights, stay connected through WhatsApp. (KNN Bureau) 40584 https://knnindia.co.in/news/newsdetails/global/india-strengthens-global-trade-strategy-with-focus-on-20-key-nations 2025-01-09 16:01:43 knnindia.co.in India Strengthens Global Trade Strategy with Focus on 20 Key Nations