Trade ministry, mission officials in 20 nations huddle to boost exports

Officers of the commercial wing at Indian missions in 20 nations and senior officials from the Indian commerce ministry this week explored ways to boost exports of goods and services from the country.

The three-day meeting concluded on Wednesday.

“Held an insightful discussion with commercial wing officers of Indian missions in 20 countries alongside MoS @JitinPrasada ji. Discussed country-specific and sector-specific opportunities & challenges in trade, technology, investment & tourism. Together, we explored ways to strengthen India’s global leadership and foster deeper international collaborations,” commerce minister Piyush Goyal posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Held an insightful discussion with Commercial Wing Officers of Indian Missions in 20 countries alongside MoS @JitinPrasada ji.

Discussed country-specific and sector-specific opportunities & challenges in trade, technology, investment & tourism. Together, we explored ways to… pic.twitter.com/HKevbyhRA9

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) January 8, 2025

The issues that came up during discussions included opportunities and challenges across six focus sectors (of goods and services each), non-tariff barriers, logistics, World Trade Organization issues; and role and importance of market access initiative, The Press Trust of India reported, citing an official privy to the discussions.

“We brainstormed innovative ways to turbocharge bilateral trade, attract global investments, and boost India’s tourism potential,” Goyal posted following the three-day deliberations.

The meeting is significant as India is formulating a strategy to push exports of six key product categories, including engineering goods and electronics, to 20 focus countries, including the US, Australia, France, China, Russia, the UK, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Indonesia, which account for a major chunk of India’s trade.

Delhi has also asked the Indian missions to step up market intelligence efforts to identify export opportunities and broaden the scope for goods and services exports, CNBC-TV18 reported, citing people in the government, adding that the “intelligence will focus on tailoring local strategies to promote exports in emerging sectors and pinpointing new sub-sectors for potential growth.”

Last week, Goyal had projected India’s exports to surpass $800 billion this fiscal, a 2.8% increase from the $778 billion reported a year ago, while acknowledging hurdles posed by uncertainties such as the Red Sea crisis and the forex crisis impacting exports to developing and least-developed countries after the pandemic.

The government’s drive to boost exports come as India’s exports in November declined 4.85% year-on-year to $32.11 billion after recording double-digit growth the previous month.