Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday launched the Trade Connect e-Platform, exuding confidence that it will help Indian exports improve their global market share by supporting existing and aspiring Indian exporters in a better and smarter manner.
“The world is our market. While global trade seems to be in a paralytic situation, we should not be looking at what is happening in the world; we should be looking at a larger market share, and this is one effort to increase India’s market share in the world,” he said.
Labelling the initiative as FAST (Futuristic, Accessible, Single window, Transformational), Goyal added that the platform will not only benefit large exporters but also aid the growth journey of small entrepreneurs, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs).
“A small entrepreneur or a small FPO, in the remotest parts of India, should be able to use this in a simple fashion… The big guys will always manage to find information, access, and connectivity. Our effort is that nobody should be left behind,” the minister remarked.
The e-Platform serves as a one-stop solution by providing exporters near real-time access to trade-related information, thereby addressing information asymmetry while connecting them to various government entities like the Department of Commerce, Export Promotion Councils, Indian Missions abroad, and other trade experts.
It includes many features such as product and country guides for comprehensive market insights, trade agreements and tariff explorer to unlock the benefits of free trade agreements, and sourcing from India to showcase Indian products globally.
Goyal urged stakeholders to provide the required feedback regarding the platform so that a new Trade Connect e-Platform 2.0, with enhanced features and services based on the feedback received, can be introduced before the next Board of Trade meeting.
“As we go along, we’ll improvise and keep making this better. The more feedback received from you, the better the work done by our teams. We have taken many initiatives, but I feel sad that stakeholders don’t give us enough feedback and don’t use various offerings as much as we would like them to,” he noted.
The minister said the newer version of the platform will incorporate Hindi and other official languages of India, besides creating synergies and partnerships to reach the goal of $1 trillion in merchandise and $1 trillion in service exports by 2030.
“Going forward, this can also get interconnected with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal for the suppliers to get a wider market because I believe economies of scale will have a huge impact on our ability to export more and be more competitive,” Goyal elaborated.
Further, Director General at Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Santosh Kumar Sarangi, listed out the additional services that will be introduced in the second phase of the platform, such as pre and post-shipment export credit, insurance cover for exports, export logistics-related services, and services pertaining to exporters’ transactions with overseas countries, among others.
First Published: Sep 11 2024 | 8:51 PM IST
