New Delhi, Dec 8 (IANS): Voicing concern over the country's adverse balance of trade position, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Monday the government is committed to enhancing trade by diversifying to markets in Africa and and Latin America, as also in the ASEAN region.
"Our trade balance is not really in favour. Simply put, we seem to be importing a lot more than we export," Sitharaman said launching the Indian Trade Portal to facilitate exports and better use of free trade agreements.
"We seem to be sharing only 1.7 percent of all exports that took place in the international trade putting us at the 19th place. Considering the size of our country, the potential that it has, 1.7 percent is just nothing of the total exports which happen," she added.
"The Indian Trade Portal will make available important data for use of exporters and importers at one place, in a user friendly manner and this will contribute to ease of doing business for trade and industry. Consequently the portal facilitates our exports and will also help our exporters to utilise the FTAs (free trade agreements)," Sitharaman said.
The portal is designed to provide most-favoured-nation (MFN) and preferential tariff rules, rules of origin and identifying technical barriers to trade faced by exporters, on a single platform for ease of doing business.
According to current rankings, India is the 19th largest exporter with a share of 1.7 percent and 12th biggest importer with a share of 2.5 percent of global merchandise trade.
India has signed FTAs with about 20 countries while it is negotiating such agreements with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the EU. Major FTAs signed include those with Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and the Asean group.
Underlining the crucial role of regional trade agreements for India to emerge as a manufacturing hub, Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher last month said the free trade agreement being negotiated by the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) would help India to boost its commerce and manufacturing.
The 16-member RCEP comprises 10 Asean members and its six FTA partners namely India, China, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The RCEP negotiations began in Cambodia in November 2012.
Kher said the RCEP is crucial for the Indian industry at a time when developed economies are negotiating mega free trade deals like the Trade and Investment Partnership (TIP) and Transatlantic Trade and Partnership (TTP).