Board of Trade meeting to be held on Wednesday

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will chair a meeting of the Board of Trade (BOT) tomorrow, December 2, 2020, through Video Conference. The discussions in the meeting will focus on the new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) (2021-26) and the strategies and measures to be taken in order to take forward domestic manufacturing and exports.

BOT platform provides an opportunity to have regular discussion and consultation with trade and industry and advise the Government on policy measures related to FTP in order to achieve the objective of boosting India's trade. It also provides a platform to state governments and Union Territories (UTs) to articulate their perspective on trade policy.

Board of Trade, includes members from public and private sector, will take an Overview of the Export and Import Performance, Investment Promotion Strategy for AtmaNirbhar Bharat, trade remedies -- recent measures and steps taken, new logistics policy, trade facilitation measures undertaken by customs, reforms and Initiatives since last BOT, coverage and expansion of government e-marketplace, and consider various suggestions regarding the policy.

Secretaries of different departments, heads of various government bodies, representatives of apex industry associations and export promotion councils are members of the BOT.

During the April-October period of 2020-21, the country's exports dipped 19 per cent to USD 150.14 billion while imports contracted by 36.28 per cent to USD 182.29 billion. During this period, the trade deficit narrowed to USD 32.16 billion from USD 100.67 billion in April-October 2019-20.