Sharma calls for removing hinderance in FTP
India needs to build a global market intelligence system to provide an overview of market developments in various countries and their policies to help exports from the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
“The current times require a need for a global market intelligence system to provide an overview of the market positions of various countries and their policies as a way to offer free of cost information to the MSMEs,” said Alka Arora, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
“Amazon’s success is also based on the data which gives us a hint of the importance of such a platform.”
She disclosed that the MSME Ministry is working with various councils to help MSMEs become exporters by providing them the required certifications.
The Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) should be revisited with the objective to develop exports, added Dr. Aruna Sharma, a Former Secretary of Government.
“Any itch in the policy that acts as a hindrance must be removed,” he pointed out, joining Arora at the India SME Forum on 31 Aug 2021.
Vinod Kumar, President, India SME Forum, elaborated, “MSMEs in India currently account for about half of the country’s exports while contributing to over one third of India’s GDP today.
“Accessibility to hassle-free cross-border trade will give small businesses the accessibility to global markets and scalability to attain exponential growth. If the country has to deliver expand the international markets for Indian products then it can happen only if we have e-commerce in the FTP. Hence it is our humble submmission.”
The basic framework of policy and strategy for promoting exports and trade, will therefore, assume paramount importance in helping lay the foundation for exports that will enable India to expand international markets for Indian products, said the Forum in a release.
The existing policy caters largely to traditional, offline, and B2B exports. Increased use of B2C e-commerce exports will allow MSMEs to compete with products and services offered by foreign competitors.
E-commerce has already demonstrated immense potential in enabling exporters to reach foreign customers more effectively by taking advantage of pre-established infrastructure and robust supply chain.
As more consumer-facing Indian businesses go through a process of digitisation, Indian MSMEs can reap significant financial benefits and create export-driven growth. Therefore, it is important to enable a conducive policy that promotes e-commerce as a channel of exports for MSMEs and lowers entry barriers for them, said the Forum.
Given the unique business model of e-commerce entities, it is critical for the Foreign Trade Policy 2021-2026 to play an active role in helping local products gain access to international markets through e-commerce.
In this regard, experts have put together specific suggestions that should be integrated into a specific chapter on e-commerce exports:
• Increase awareness around e-commerce exports
• Implement end-to-end digitization for exports related processes
• Develop specialized logistics capabilities for e-commerce exports
• Simplify compliances and regulatory requirements for e-commerce exports and
• Create long term capabilities to support the growth of e-commerce exports
FTP should create dedicated e-commerce export zones by leveraging existing Special Economic Zones (SEZs). “We need to develop specialized low-cost and trackable logistics solutions by using channels like India Post, and extend benefits of schemes like Market Access Initiative (MAI) to e-commerce exporters,” said experts at the Forum. #economy #markets #exports #investment #manufacturing /fiinews.com
