Vanijya Saptah a Huge Success which Needs to be Institutionalised, says President, FIEO

Speaking at the conclusion of the Vanijya Saptah, Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble Commerce & Industry Minister said that the weeklong celebration and business has rejuvenated the exporters across the length and breadth of the country. The Exports Conclave has created awareness at the grass route level and identifying the gaps which need to be filled. Mr. Goyal further said that under the “District as an Export Hub”, 739 districts have been identified with the potential export products. The showcasing at the Vanijya Saptah has promoted brand India and this will encourage entrepreneurs particularly the start-ups. He suggested that we may institutionalise the Vanijya Saptah and may organise the same in April and October to project the export target and evaluate the same respectively.

Mr. Goyal urged the industry to participate in Dubai Expo 2020 as Dubai is a great place to showcase. The participation will also provide a glimpse to the excellent India pavilion put up by the country.

The Commerce & Industry Minister inaugurated the Ease of Logistics Portal developed by FIEO to address the container shortage by forecasting the demand for containers. Dr A Sakthivel, President, FIEO said that this portal is a win-win situation both for exporters and service providers. Dr Sakthivel said that the portal offers a value proposition to all stakeholders. Exporters can post details of their container requirements directly to service providers for providing their best quotes, enabling exporters to chat, negotiate and finalize business. He expressed optimism that with wider visibility of demand, there will be better price discovery for exporters and their container fulfilment probability shall improve through this portal. On the other hand, with advance visibility of demands, the logistics service provider LSPs shall be in a better position to do equipment planning and container repositioning besides getting access to demands of pan India exporters giving them wider business outreach. President, FIEO also thanked the Hon'ble Minister for release of MEIS, SEIS, RoDTEP, RoSCTL and other pending claims hereby addressing liquidity constraints.

Referring to the National Single Window System, the Commerce & Industry Minister said that the portal will provide investors the access to all solutions at one click through the end-to-end facilitation. This will result in a seamless process and add to transparency & accountability.

He said that in many sectors, Indian manufacturing is very competitive which makes a strong case for exports. We are not looking for incremental exports but transforming exports. At the same time, in products where we are not competitive since the raw-material is not available in the country, we have to import the same. Exports & manufacturing, in some cases, is dependent on imports. Therefore, the Atma Nirbhar should not be construed that we are closing our door. The world is looking for a resilient supply chain and trusted partners. We have to Make in India for the world.

Amit Yadav, Director General of Foreign Trade said that over 15 lacs people participated in the events organised by APEDA, MPEDA, Tea Board, Coffee Board, etc. in the country on 27 September, 2021. The Vanijya Saptah was attended by over one crore people making it a huge success.