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In pursuance of the meeting of the Board of Trade on 17th June, 2005 which was inaugurated by Shri Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry and chaired by Shri Kumaramangalam Birla who heads the Board, the Ministry of Commerce & industry, have constituted 5 Working Groups and 3 Special Study Groups on specific areas of Indian exports in order to further boost the country’s exports so as to reach the target of raising India’s share of world trade.
The Working Group on “Evaluation of Different Export Promotion Schemes” will be headed by Shri Rakesh Shah and will have as members: Shri R.L. Toshniwal, Synthetic, Rayon & Textile Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC); Shri D.B. Modi, Pharma Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil); and Shri M. Rafeeque Ahmed, Council for Leather Exports (CLE). The terms of reference of this group will be: (i) evaluating the performance and effectiveness of different schemes in meeting the objectives; (ii) global best practices in Export Promotion (EP) Schemes followed by developed and developing countries; (iii) study of cess, tax, duties and levies paid by the exporter and mechanism for rebate under the existing EP schemes; (iv) best possible way to neutralise all such levies; and (v) use of Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM) as a tool for adding WTO compatible features in the existing schemes.
The Working Group on “Trade Facilitation” will be headed by Shri Omkar S Kanwar, President, Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and will comprise the following: Shri Sharad Jaipuria, Export Promotion Council for Export Oriented Units (EPC for EOUs); Shri Nalin Kohli, Electronic & Software Export Promotion Council (ESC); and Shri B.K. Patodia, Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council (Texprocil). The Working Group will analyse the recommendation of studies already completed, benchmarking trade facilitation parameters of India with other countries and setting achievable goals.
The Working Group on “Manufacturing Sector” will be headed by Shri Prashant Ruia, Essar Group with Shri Ishaat Hussain, Tata Sons and Shri Baba Kalyani, Bharat Forge, as members. The terms of reference will be to analyse the recommendation of studies already completed; benchmarking manufacturing sector in terms of export competitiveness with other Low Cost Countries (LCCs); and study the constraints faced by the manufacturing sector in India and suggest specific measures to alleviate them.
The Working Group on “Identifying specific sectors and strategies having comparative advantage” is to be headed by Shri Ishaat Hussain, Tata Sons with the following members: Shri Y. C. Deveshwar, CII and Shri Irfan Allana, Allana Sons. Shri Kumaramangalam Birla will assist the Group. The terms of reference will be: (i) Defining parameters for identifying comparative advantage for specific goods and services sectors; (ii) industry attractiveness and SWOT analysis for chosen sector; and (iii) specific plan of action for each sector and setting achievable goals.
The Working Group on “SEZs and EOUs” will be headed by Shri Ravi Raheja, Shoppers Stop and will have Shri Sharad Jaipuria and Shri Rafeeque Ahmed as members. The terms of reference will be: (i) constraints faced by the sectors; (ii) benchmarking with other countries; and (iii) setting achievable goals.
Outside experts may be co-opted in the Working Groups.
All the 5 Working Groups are scheduled to submit their Report to the Chairman of the Board of Trade by the middle of August 2005.
Besides, the 5 Working Groups, 3 Special Groups constituted for sectoral studies are: Study Group for Sectoral Study on Textiles to be done jointly by AEPC/SRTEPC/Texprocil and headed by Chairman Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC); Study Group on Sectoral Study on Pharmaceuticals to be headed by Chairman/Pharmexcil; and Study Group to study the impact of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs)/Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) on industry/exports to be done by FICCI. The Study Groups will also submit their reports to the Chairman by the middle of August, 2005.
SB/MRS
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