Ontrade July-Sep 2022

July - September 2022 | VOL.
9 ISSUE 1
ON TRADE
R
THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE RESEARCH JOURNAL OF MVIRDC WTC MUMBAI For private circulation
TO RS
C
SE
N T
E Renewable Technology
N
Energy & Innovation

MI
Telecom
RO
Pharmaceuticals & Networking

8P
Home Decor &

Engineering Textiles
Auto-
Components
Agro
Processing
Initiative by WTC Mumbai & WTCA, New York
Unleash the Power of Digital Marketing

Bharat Ratna Sir M. Visvesvaraya
(15 September, 1860 - 14 April, 1962)
M. Visvesvaraya Industrial Research and Development Centre (MVIRDC) is a non-profit

company registered and licensed under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 (currently
Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013). On 26 June, 2020 MVIRDC completed 50 years of
continuous service to the promotion of trade and industry.
MVIRDC became a member of the World Trade Centers Association, New York, in 1971 and
established the World Trade Center Mumbai, which is the first World Trade Center in India.
MVIRDC, having spearheaded the movement of World Trade Centers in India with the
establishment of WTCs at Bhubaneswar, Goa and Jaipur, is assisting MSMEs in these regions
through various Trade Research, Trade Promotion, Trade Infrastructure including Commercial
Offices, Business Center, Trade Facilitation Services and Trade Education Programmes.
www.wtcmumbai.org
From the Editor’s Desk ON TRADE
At the outset of this festive season, I would like to wish all our readers a Happy and
Prosperous Diwali.
I am pleased to announce that on the occasion of completing 50 years of service to trade

and industry, we have initiated the M. Visvesvaraya Center of Excellence which will be a
cornerstone in redefining the future role of WTC Mumbai, as it will impart professional
skills to the economically disadvantaged sections of the society and offer business
acceleration support and mentoring to start-ups, women entrepreneurs and MSMEs, to
trade nationally and also world over. This Center of Excellence is a befitting tribute to our
visionary Bharat Ratna Sir Dr. M. Visvesvaraya for his incomparable service to the society.
I am happy to mention that our latest digital initiative ‘CONNECT INDIA INTERNATIONAL TRADE SHOW 2022' received
participation from 180 exhibitors so far, and we expect more local enterprises to join this platform and benefit by
connecting with the unparallel global network of WTCs. Interested exhibitors keen to extend their global reach are
requested to get in touch with us.
During the period, WTC Mumbai has conducted various fruitful trade events, including interactive meetings with
inbound trade delegations from Vietnam, Taiwan, Costa Rica and many more countries.
This edition of the journal brings to you an insightful cover story on Deep Trade Agreements which is the order of the
day. Countries now prefer to be a part of Deep Trade Agreements such as RCEP, CPTPP and others instead of signing
Narrow Trade Agreements that are restricted to mere tariff liberalisation.
We also bring to you a brief overview of the recently concluded WTO Public Forum and the opportunities for India to
diversify its imports from ASEAN countries. In view of which, I am glad to share WTC Bhubaneshwar’s significant step of
taking a trade delegation to Vietnam in an attempt to strengthen commercial relations with the country and positioning
Odisha as India’s gateway to ASEAN.
WTC Mumbai also organised a curtain raiser event ahead of the GOA Investment Summit to create trade and investment
opportunities in this scenic western state.
This journal brings to you a snapshot of all the events organised by WTC Mumbai, Goa and Bhubaneshwar in the last
quarter.
I hope you enjoy reading the articles and interviews in this journal and I look forward to your valuable feedback to
improve the quality of content in the forthcoming editions.
Rupa Naik
Executive Director
ON TRADE July - September 2022 | 3

ADVISORY BOARD
Dr. Vijay G. Kalantri
Chairman
Captain Somesh C. Batra

Sharad P. Upasani
Ajaykant Ruia
Vice Chairmen
Rupa Naik
Executive Director &
Head of Editorial Board
EDITORIAL BOARD
Amisha Gada
Manager - Trade Promotion and Marketing
Raja Narayanan
Manager - Research
Nilesh Gosai
Creative Designer
Abhishek Parab
Creative Designer
WTC Bhubaneswar
Nimeshika Natarajan
Assistant Director - Trade Research
WTC Goa
Cyril Desouza
Assistant Director - Trade Promotion
WTC Jaipur
Navneet Agarwal
Assistant Director - Trade Promotion
Editorial Ofce
M. Visvesvaraya Industrial Research and Development Centre
(Member: World Trade Centers Association Inc.)
Center 1, 31st Floor, World Trade Center, Cuffe Parade, Mumbai 400 005 (India)
Tel : 66387272 Fax: 91-22-22188385 | Email: [email protected]
Web : www.wtcmumbai.org
Disclaimer: The information contained in this journal has been reviewed for accuracy and is
deemed reliable but is not necessarily complete and cannot be guaranteed. The views expressed in
the articles appearing in this Journal are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reect the
views of the Centre.
for private circulation

CONTENTS Events
Trade Promotion Activities
26 ‚ WTC MUMBAI
03 From the Editor’s Desk
06 Cover Story
India in the era of Deep Trade Agreements
09 In Conversation
Mr. Claudio Ansorena PhD
Ambassador, Embassy of the
Republic of Costa Rica in India.
56 ‚ WTC BHUBANESWAR
13 WTO Focus
Public Forum puts spotlight on Sustainable,
Resilient and Inclusive economic recovery
14 ASEAN Desk
India may diversify its import source for 27
goods in favour of ASEAN
Viewpoint
67 ‚ WTC GOA
16
ƒMr. Sanatan Sahoo
Director, Central Footwear
Training Institute, Agra
21 ƒMs. Margaret Myers

‚ WTC JAIPUR
Director, Asia and Latin
America Program
71
Inter-American Dialogue
Mr. Steven Holmes p

Program Associate, Asia and
Latin America Program
Inter-American Dialogue
54
ƒMr. Rajen Padhi
Commercial Director - B One Business
77 Representations to Government
House Pvt. Ltd. and Director, EXIM
Consultancy Exhibitions
84 Virtual Exhibition
- Connect India International Trade Show 2022
76 WTC Mumbai - Academy of 85 Physical Exhibitions
International Trade
98 WTC Highlights

Cover Story ON TRADE
India in the era of Deep Trade Agreements
I
n this age of sustainable development, trade agree- regions of South Asia and MERCOSUR.
ments have emerged as an instrument to impose
stringent norms for protecting environment and China has signed trade pacts with 12 different countries,
safeguarding labour rights. The Comprehensive and other than Hong Kong and Macau. Vietnam has signed
Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreements with Chile, UK and EU, besides its
(CPTPP), which was signed by 11 countries across Asia membership in ASEAN’s trade agreement with Australia,
and Latin America have substantial provisions for China, India, South Korea and Japan.
protecting labour rights and environment.
Deep Trade Agreements
The last three decades have witnessed phenomenal rise
in globalization of trade as countries across the world Until the early 1990s, trade agreements largely covered
entered into trade agreements to promote seamless flow tariff and a limited set of non tariff measures such as
of goods and services across the borders by reducing safeguard measures, anti-dumping duty, import restric-
tariff and non-tariff barriers. According to WTO, the tions, export restrictions, quality standards, food safety
number of regional trade agreements grew more than standards etc. In the course of time, it was realized that
10-folds from a mere 22 in 1990 to around 353 by 2022. countries that adopt less stringent regulations on
The WTO database on regional trade agreements intellectual property rights, environment protection and
contains list of 353 trade agreements, of which 167 cover labour rights have unfair competitive advantage over
only trade in goods and 184 cover trade in goods and countries with stringent regulations on these policy
services, while two agreements (viz. EU-Armenia and areas. Similarly, countries can restrict or disallow market
European Economic Area) are related to only services. access for foreign companies through stringent rules on
data localisation, government procurement, e-
Cross- country comparisons commerce and small and medium enterprises.
The 27 European countries are the largest signatories of Negotiating countries of trade agreements felt the need
trade agreements (both in goods and services) as each of to harmonize regulations on the above policy areas in
them is party to 46 trade agreements. Most of these their respective countries by bringing them under the
agreements are signed by the European Union. EU has scope of the agreement so that there is level playing field
signed trade agreements with Canada, Japan, South for companies of all the signatory countries.
Korea, Singapore, UK, Eastern & Southern African States, Consequently, these agreements which include provi-
CARIFORUM States, besides many other trade partners. sions on environment, labour, intellectual property, e-
This is followed by the UK, the four member states of commerce and other policy areas are known as Deep
European Free Trade Area (EFTA) and Chile. More than 30 Trade Agreements.
trade agreements have been signed by each of these
countries. World Bank, in its Handbook on Deep Trade Agreements,
defined such an agreement as one which covers three
This is followed by the league of six emerging markets sets of policy areas, viz. 1) Policies that promote eco-
such as Singapore, Turkey, Mexico, Peru, South Korea and nomic integration among countries, 2) Policies that
Ukraine, each of which is a signatory to at least 20 trade regulate government discretionary measures that inhibit
agreements. Around 28 countries, which includes a mix such economic integration, 3) Policies that promote
of developed and developing countries ranging from consumer or social welfare by regulating the behavior of
USA, Japan, Australia to China, India, Pakistan and exporters.
Guatemala have each signed at least 10 trade agree-
ments. Japan, Panama and Australia have signed 18 Provisions covered in the first set of policy area are:
agreements each, while India and China have signed 17 import tariffs and export taxes, regulation on trade in
and 16 pacts respectively. On the other hand, Vietnam, services, foreign direct investment, visa regime and
Thailand and USA have signed around 14 trade agree- intellectual property rights. The second set of policy areas
ments each. India signed trade agreements with South cover discretionary government measures such as anti-
Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Japan and the dumping duties, countervailing duties, public procure-
6 | ON TRADE July - September 2022

m e n t p o l i c y, q u a l i t y s t a n d a rd s , s a n i t a r y a n d trade agreements cover more and more policy areas

phytosanitary measures and other technical barriers to beyond just tariff and non-tariff barriers compared to the
trade, subsidies etc. These discretionary policy measures traditional trade agreements. The policy coverage ratio
limit market access or economic integration among the for majority of the trade agreements signed since early
signatory countries of FTA. Under the third policy area, 2000s has been above 25%, compared to less than 15%
trade agreements regulate environment and labour for agreements signed during 1980s and 1990s. The
regulations for the welfare of society. The third policy Handbook defined coverage ratio as the share of
area also includes competition policy, regulation of state- provisions contained in a given agreement relative to the
owned enterprises and subsidies that have direct impact maximum number of provisions.
on consumer or social welfare.
A key finding of the World Bank’s Handbook is that trade
In a nut shell, deep trade agreements are not limited to agreements of developed countries are deeper in scope
market integration in the goods sector, but it also coversthan those of developing countries. The average number
other forms of economic integration through liberalized of substantive commitments covered in India’s trade
movement of services, capital, people, ideas across the agreements is between 13 to 18, compared to 34-40 in
borders of the signatory countries, besides covering Western European countries and 40-74 in North America
environment and labour issues. According to the World and Australia. In the developing region, all countries
Bank, the number of policy areas covered by a typical except the Pacific Alliance countries (Chile, Colombia,
trade agreement in recent years has risen to 17 from Mexico and Peru), Carribean countries and Mongolia,
eight in 1950s. The following table shows the coverage of have shallow trade agreements. In most of the develop-
various policy areas in different trade agreements. ing countries, including India, the average number of
substantive commit-
ments covered by
Coverage (in %) of key policy areas in Preferen al Trade Agreements (PTAs) trade agreements is
Policy Areas % of PTAs incorpora ng these policy areas less than 18, while in
Tariffs on industrial and agriculture goods 100% some developed
Customs and export taxes 80% countries such as
China and Russia, the
Services and movement of capital 50%
average number of
Environment and labour issues 20% substantive commit-
Source: World Bank Database on Deep Trade Agreements m e n t s c ov e re d i s
upto 34.
The World Bank’s Handbook has examined various
provisions under 17 of these policy areas covered by Provisions in India’s trade agreements
around 279 preferential trade agreements that are
notified at WTO upto 2017. The Handbook defines The World Bank Database provides detailed information
preferential trade agreement as any reciprocal agree- on coverage of provisions such as labour, environment,
ment, including regional trade agreements (RTAs), free public procurement, competition policy, intellectual
trade agreements (FTAs) and customs unions (CUs) property rights, investments and others in India’s trade
among trade partners. agreements. The database provides information on
coverage of these provisions across 11 trade agreements
More specifically, the Handbook examined the overall signed by India with partners such as Sri Lanka,
provisions in each trade agreement and also substantive Singapore, Bhutan, Chile, MERCOSUR, Afghanistan,
provisions covered by these agreements. Substantive Nepal, ASEAN, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea.
provisions in a trade agreement are those provisions that
impose specific obligations or commitments on Among these 11 agreements, the ones with Japan and
signatory countries on matters such as market access or South Korea are deeper agreements with provisions on
harmonization of standards. environment protection, investment and competition
policy. For instance, in our agreement with Japan, there is
The Handbook revealing the scope of trade agreements 75% coverage of enforcement mechanism for environ-
has been widening in the course of time as the recent ment laws. While in many other trade agreements (viz.

with ASEAN, Malaysia, South Korea, Sri Lanka etc., the facilitation. However, it does not include emerging policy
coverage ratio is 25% for enforcement provisions related areas such as environment, labour, intellectual property
to environment laws. In the case of obligations related to regime, competition policy or e-commerce. This agree-
competition policy, India’s trade agreements with South ment will be implemented when it is ratified by the
Korea and Japan have 50% coverage, while such obliga- Parliament of Australia and India.
tions are missing in trade agreements signed with other
countries. On the other hand, the recently signed and implemented
India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership
Existence of detailed provisions on government procure- Agreement (CEPA) is a deep agreement which covers
ment is a feature of a deep trade agreement. According to emerging policy areas such as digital trade, intellectual
a study of 283 preferential trade agreements by the property rights and government procurement, besides
World Bank, 45% or 129 agreements have no provision on the traditional areas. The agreement came into force in
public procurement, 25% or 70 agreements have shallow May 2022.
provisions while the remaining 30% or 84 agreements
have deep provisions. Most of the agreements signed by As countries prefer to broaden the coverage of trade
India, especially with ASEAN, South Korea, Malaysia, Sri agreements by including more and more policy areas,
Lanka, Singapore, Chile, Nepal and Bhutan have no India should also prepare its negotiation stance on these
provision on government procurement. On the other emerging policy areas of environment and labour, which
hand, India’s trade agreement with Japan has shallow are not substantially covered in any of our trade agree-
provision on government procurement. ment so far.
The following table provides a snapshot of the overall India’s upcoming trade agreements with European Union
provisions covered in India’s trade agreements with 10 is expected to be deeper that will include labour and
countries or regions, along with the coverage of substan- environment policy areas. Among the developing
tive provisions. countries, Vietnam has shown the way by becoming part
Coverage detail of India’s trade agreements

Sr. No Agreement Overall Substan ve Overall Substan ve
Provisions Provisions Coverage ra o Coverage ra o
1 India–Afghanistan 37 4 4.1 1.8
(2003)
2 India-Singapore (2005) 197 37 21.9 16.6
3 India – Bhutan (2006) 8 1 0.9 0.4
4 Chile-India 70 11 7.8 4.9
5 India – Nepal (2009) 19 0 2.1 0
6 MERCOSUR-India 52 7 5.8 3.1
(2009)
7 ASEAN-India (2010) 175 29 19.5 13.0
8 India-South Korea 252 45 28.0 20.2
(2010)
9 India-Malaysia (2011) 213 32 23.7 14.3
10 India-Japan (2011) 234 40 26.0 17.9
Source: World Bank Handbook on Deep Trade Agreements
The way forward of the 11-country Comprehensive and Progressive

Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which
The recently signed trade agreement between India and has a coverage ratio of 61%.
Australia contains provisions on trade in services,
movement of people, customs procedures and trade n

In Conversation ON TRADE
Costa Rica proposes study to examine

India-Central America trade potential
Costa Rica should be considered as a favorable destination for expansion of
operations to Latin America for different reasons, especially its strategic
location that makes it an ideal hub and gateway to Latin America, its talented
and bilingual workforce, its democratically elected government and political
stability, institutional support for investors, connectivity by air, land and sea,
among many others…’’ saysMr. Claudio Ansorena, PhD,
Ambassador, Embassy of the Republic of Costa Rica in India.
Costa Rica promotes international

opportunities and partnerships that can contribute
to inclusive, resilient, sustainable, green, and
decarbonized economic development.
How can Costa Rica collabo- In line with the recent roadmap Costa Rica therefore looks forward
ra t e w i t h I n d i a i n g re e n established by the Indian govern- to further expanding its biodiversity
energy, waste recycling and ment for transitioning to a green conservation initiatives with an
economy and investment in active international player such as
conservation of biodiversity ?
renewable and green energy, we India.
identify a broad scope for collabora-
Costa Rica is a unique Latin
tion with India through nature- Regarding our recycling efforts, we
American country that has led by
based solutions (NBS) and partner- still have challenges to overcome,
example and has proven to be an
ships that promote green technolo- especially related to plastic waste.
internationally recognized leader in
gies and sustainable development. Our previous administration
environmental policy and protec-
introduced an action plan for waste
tion. Its foreign policy has environ-
In terms of biodiversity conserva- management, striving to reduce
mental and climate change diplo-
tion, Costa Rica is one of the model waste and improve processing and
macy as one of its main focus, so our
countries that has taken leadership disposal infrastructure. An example
country strongly promotes interna-
initiatives with other international of concrete achievements in this
tional opportunities and partner-
partners. For example, the High direction is Law No. 9786 or the ‘Law
ships that can contribute to inclu-
Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature to Combat Plastic Pollution and
sive, resilient, sustainable, green,
and People, with France and the Protect the Environment,’ enacted in
and decarbonized economic
United Kingdom, is one such
development. Costa Rica has a
intergovernmental group that
distinct advantage in terms of
energy transition: it has a diversified
emphasizes prevention of species Costa Rica looks
loss and protection of ecosystems.
electricity matrix based on renew-
Along with many other countries in
forward to expanding
able sources (hydroelectric, wind,
geothermal, solar, biomass), which
Europe, Latin America, Africa and its biodiversity
Asia, India has joined HAC in October
allows the supply of electricity with conservation initiatives
2021, becoming the first of the BRICS
virtually zero emissions. Since 2014,
countries to join this important with an active
our country has been operating with
coalition. It is crucial to push for the international player
more than 98% renewable electricity
adoption of a 30% global land and
sources, with the goal of reaching such as India.
ocean protection target by 2030.
100% renewable electricity by 2030.

November 2019, which ‘prohibits

sale or distribution of plastic bags by
One way to promote Indian tourism would be to
supermarkets and other commercial have Indian Hotel brands in Costa Rica such as Taj,
establishments and allows the use of
ITC or Oberoi for example, to invest in Costa Rica.
biodegradable bags and reusable
bags certified as having low
environmental impact and meeting 1 9 i m p o s e d t ra v e l a n d o t h e r country has extensive experience
certain design standards, including restrictions, Costa Rica received 3 and qualified personnel to provide
at least 50% recycled content.’ Costa million foreign visitors per year, high quality audio-visual production
Ricans are also becoming increas- attracted largely by its nature, services, as well as to effectively
ingly environment-conscious by beaches and volcanoes. In 2020, respond to on-demand services.
finding innovative ways to work with Costa Rica experienced a dramatic
waste, such as companies that turn 70% decline in tourist arrivals. In terms of cultural exchange, Costa
plastic waste into building blocks Fortunately, in 2021, the Costa Rican Rica and India share common values
and the development of environ- Tourism Board (ICT) reported that it and characteristics that unite our
mental technology parks, among had received a total of 1,347,055 two countries, such as consolidated
o t h e r s . We b e l i ev e t h e re a re tourists that year, representing a democracies, pacifist vocation,
opportunities for collaboration recovery of more than 40% of the strong family ties and a vast
between Costa Rica and Indian passengers recorded in 2019. biodiversity, to name a few. Indian
authorities and companies in waste Around 66.4% of those arrivals came literature and languages have been
management technologies and best from the United States. Therefore, studied and appreciated in Costa
practices. It will be very important if Costa Rica is optimistic about R i c a f o r ov e r a c e n t u r y. T h e
the government or private founda- reactivation of tourism, but we still University of Costa Rica, for instance,
tions can set some financial have a long way to go to reach and began offering Sanskrit courses in
incentives for companies to do joint exc e e d t h e 3 m i l l i o n t o u r i s t s 1968 and the interest of Costa Rican
ventures in this area. received in 2019 before the pan- students in these topics continues to
demic. grow till date. Even yoga and
How can both the countries ayurvedic treatments are slowly
strengthen relation in tour- More and more Indian tourists travel gaining popularity. There are many
ism, cultural exchange, and to Costa Rica and marvel at the other examples of the ample
entertainment industries? natural riches, the pure lifestyle, opportunities and commitment
great climate, and culture of our between our nations to continue
Tourism is one of the main drivers of country. One way to promote Indian strengthening cultural understand-
the Costa Rican economy, directly tourism would be to have Indian ing and ties.
contributing 8% to the country’s GDP Hotel brands in Costa Rica such as
before the pandemic. Before COVID- Taj, ITC or Oberoi for example, to In 2017, Costa Rica was honoured as
invest in Costa Rica. the guest country at the 41st
Calcutta International Book Fair, and
We believe there Some prominent figures of Indian in 2021 Costa Rican artist Raudyn
cinema have also visited our country Alfaro was invited to share his work
are opportunities for recently, which is undoubtedly a by the Indian Council of Cultural
collaboration between motivation for others to do the Relations (ICCR) and the Lalit Kala
same. As for the film industry, in Akademi in Delhi and Kolkata, as
Costa Rica and Indian addition to the beautiful landscapes part of the celebration of our 200
authorities and that Costa Rica offers, the country years of independence. Creating a
has a Film Investment Attraction Law fund for an exchange program of
companies in waste that exempts temporary imports of artist from both countries to
management equipment and spare parts for film facilitate exchange of at least one
and audio-visual production from artist from each country per year,
technologies and best duties, taxes, contributions, levies would be a way to promote the
practices. and guarantees. In addition, the cultural exchange.

ferronickel exports, and in 2019 tion, allowing us to provide the right

The incorporation because of a large decline in gold environment and incentives to drive
of India to the Central exports. On the other hand, India's business success. We host 41 of the
exports to SICA have continued to Fortune 500 companies that
American Bank for grow. In the case of Costa Rica established successful operations in
Economic Integration specifically, trade has decreased due our territory, and the list continues
to higher cost of shipment of teak to grow.
(CABEI) as an extra wood which is our main export to
regional member India. In addition, the pandemic has Costa Rica has been a key invest-
lowered trade in 2020 and 2021 all ment destination for Indian IT
would be an
over the world. companies, given its proximity to the
enormous incentive US, openness to FDI, and its skilled
for Indian companies For our export balance with India to and bilingual workforce. The fact
increase therefore, it is necessary to that Costa Rica's manufacturing
to expand their trade analyze more in-depth the commer- sector has experienced significant
and investment in cial potential and investment growth also makes it more attractive
financing opportunities between the to foreign investments, especially in
Central America. two regions. It is also important to high tech companies. It has become
remove existing trade restrictions a niche market to produce medical
Finally, it is worth mentioning that through policies that reduce tariff devices, hardware and software
Costa Rica has an India-Costa Rica and non-tariff barriers and enable devices, as well as a hub for logistics
Association (CRIA) that brings the increase in current transport services. We are very much inter-
together the Indian diaspora and is cost productivity levels. For this, a ested in seeing more and more
very active in organizing activities, Free Trade Agreement could be the Indian companies initiating strategic
thus promoting greater exchange, way to increase trade and invest- operations in Costa Rica.
appreciation and union of two
unique and rich cultures such as Costa Rica has a privileged location, ideal for
India and Costa Rica.
reaching the Americas, both North and South and
Bilateral trade between both has 15 FTAs including one with USA and another
the countries declined from with the European Union.
USD 269 million in 2011-12 to
around USD 200 million ment. Moreover, the incorporation Regarding trade, Costa Rica has a
c u r r e n t l y. W h a t a r e t h e of India to the Central American ro b u s t n e t w o r k o f f re e t ra d e
reasons for decline in trade Bank for Economic Integration agreements that provides preferen-
(CABEI) as an extra regional member tial access to 2.8 billion people and
volume and how can we revive
would be an enormous incentive for 75% of the world’s GDP, including the
it?
Indian companies to expand their USA, EU and China. Costa Rica is well
trade and investment in Central known for its fruit production and
According to available data, the total
America. exports. In our view, the agribusi-
trade volume (exports + imports)
ness sector in Costa Rica may be still
between India and Secretariat of
What are the sectors that hold l a r g e l y u n ex p l o re d by I n d i a n
Integration for Central America
untapped trade potential companies.
(SICA) countries was the highest in
2016-2017, with a value of over USD between both the countries ?
There are relevant market prospects
2 billion. In 2017, SICA exports
Costa Rica has a privileged location, in various sectors. In 2021, we gladly
declined significantly mainly due to
ideal for reaching the Americas, both closed the calendar year with a 24%
the interruption in the purchase of
North and South and has 15 FTAs growth in goods exports, marked
tanker exports from Panama and
including one with USA and another primarily by the export of precision
gold from the Dominican Republic.
with the European Union. Our and medical equipment, which is
In 2018, it further declined due to a
country boasts stability & innova- currently our leading export sector,
reduction in tropical timber and

operations extended by the Costa

Costa Rica has been a key investment
Rican Government to the companies
destination for Indian IT companies, given its looking to make investments in the
proximity to the US, openness to FDI, and its skilled c o u n t r y. T h i s re s t r i c t e d z o n e
accommodates operations related
and bilingual workforce. to manufacturing, marketing export
goods, and other export-related
whose sales abroad grew by 33%, Central American products to India. services. In this regard, the applica-
followed by the agricultural sector, India's investments in Central tions from prospective companies
second in importance for Costa Rica, America, on the other hand, have are submitted to PROCOMER, the
which grew by 6%. Other important increased significantly and if there Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promoter
sectors that experienced growth last were more financing from Exim Bank for review. In addition, through the
y e a r w e re t h e f o o d i n d u s t r y, and CABEI there could be even more, free zone regime, the government
chemical-pharmaceuticals, electrical especially related to infrastructure offers other incentives by subsidiz-
and electronic devices, plastics, projects. ing education/training costs. These
livestock and fishing. companies are also 100% exempt
For our export balance with India to from import duties, excise taxes,
You have proposed the idea of increase, it is necessary to do an FTA customs duties, and remittance
a free trade agreement that would lower not only tariff and repatriation taxes. These are some
between India and the Central non-tariff barriers but also facilitate of the general incentives that are
investment in services and establish afforded. One other important
American region. Can you
clear rules of trade. measure to be taken is an agree-
explain the scope and the
ment on avoiding double taxation.
sectoral coverage of this
proposed agreement? India's investments in As part of our Embassy's investment
Central America, on the attraction efforts, we maintain close
To best determine the scope of trade communication with Indian compa-
between India and Central America, other hand, have
nies operating in Costa Rica, as well
we are proposing to carry out a joint increased significantly as with potential foreign investors.
study between CABEI and the Exim Costa Rica should be considered as a
Bank of India, with the purpose of and if there were more
favorable destination for expansion
analyzing the trade and investment financing from Exim of operations to Latin America for
potential. This study is intended to
serve as a basis for a later negotia-
Bank and CABEI there different reasons, especially its
strategic location that makes it an
tion between the Secretariat of could be even more, ideal hub and gateway to Latin
Integration for Central America
especially related to America, its talented and bilingual
(SICA) where seven countries are workforce, its democratically elected
represented and India. infrastructure projects. government and political stability,
institutional support for investors,
In case of the Exim Bank, they have What are the tax and non-tax connectivity by air, land and sea,
already published in collaboration among many others.
incentives offered by Costa
with the Inter-American
Rican government to Indian
Development Bank (IDB), a joint Our message to Indian companies
analysis on the trade and investment investors? What is your
wishing to explore the possibility of
relation between Latin America, the message for Indian companies
investing in Costa Rica is to first
Caribbean and India. In the case of looking to invest in Costa Rica?
come and visit our country so that
Central America, what we intend to they can explore firsthand not only
have is a detailed outlook of the Costa Rica offers a unique export
the beauty of our land and the
trade potential specific to our region. and investment promotion strategy
warmth of our people, but also the
India maintains high levels of called ‘Free Zone Regime’, which is a
comparative advantages that Costa
protection on certain products set of benefits and incentives
Rica offers for nearshore operations.
which has limited the imports of specifically for offshore and customs
n

WTO Focus ON TRADE
Public Forum puts spotlight on Sustainable, Resilient

and Inclusive economic recovery
A
key highlight of World Trade Organisation (WTO) mitigate climate change and offer better healthcare
in recent weeks is the Public Forum, which is its solutions.
largest annual outreach event that provides a
unique platform for leaders from government, industry, Business leaders and experts from multilateral organiza-
academia and civil society to debate on topical issues of tions discussed the opportunities and challenges in
trade and development. developing a resilient and sustainable fashion apparel
supply chain. Apparel industry is a key driver of global
The Public Forum for 2022 was held on the overarching economy as it contributes USD 2.5 trillion to global trade
theme of ‘Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery: Ambition value and employs 120 million people globally.
to Action’ during September 27-30, 2022. This four-day
program had 144 sessions on various topics related to WTO’s country representatives and business leaders
technology for an inclusive recovery and trade agenda for steered an impactful knowledge session on achieving a
a sustainable future. gender-inclusive society by enhancing the contribution of
women in trade and economy.
The objective of this year’s Forum was to discuss how
trade can contribute to post-pandemic economic Policy makers and experts from trade support institu-
recovery. Distinguished speakers at the forum shared tions explored how technology can be leveraged to
their perspectives on framing trade rules for a more increase global footprint of micro, small and medium
resilient, sustainable and inclusive trading system. enterprises who are the key contributors to economic
growth and job creation.
The program highlighted the key priorities of least
developed countries (LDCs) that need to be incorporated Since the conclusion of the 11th Ministerial Conference in
in the global action plan for climate change adaptation 2017, like-minded WTO member countries came
and mitigation. together to launch negotiation under the Joint Statement
Initiatives (JSIs) on critical topics. WTO members have
Parliamentarians and representatives from multilateral formed JSI on issues such as e-commerce, investment
organizations discussed how to promote free global facilitation, MSMEs and liberalizing regulation for
trade in agricultural commodities to elevate food security services trade. The Public Forum offered a platform for
while also protecting the genuine concerns of domestic experts to discuss progress of negotiations under these
food sufficiency in the producing countries. JSIs and the way forward.
Revenue and customs authorities of various countries Experts from academia and civil society discussed the
discussed the use of disruptive technologies to digitize imperative for amendment of WTO’s TRIPS Agreement to
customs procedures and promote trade in e-commerce. promote equitable access to medical technologies to
developing and less developed countries.
Agriculture and food security was at the center of
discussion in several sessions as global leaders explored In summary, the Public Forum generated insightful public
ways to strengthen negotiations on liberalizing trade in discussion on trade topics such as technology for
farm goods, which started more than 20 years ago. inclusive trade, sustainable development, gender
inclusion, food security, MSMEs, resilient supply chain
Industry leaders discussed the imperative for adopting etc. These topics will guide discussion and global action
the next edition of Information Technology Agreement on these topics of high policy importance for a sustain-
(ITA3) that will liberalize trade in IT goods and services for able, inclusive and a resilient global economy.
bridging digital divide.
n
Removing tariff and non-tariff barriers to global trade in
advanced technology products can help countries

ASEAN Desk ON TRADE
India may diversify its import source for 27 goods

in favour of ASEAN
T
he 10-country ASEAN (Association of South East Under sector-wise classification, energy (31%), edible oil
Asian Nations) bloc emerged as India’s fourth (12%), Electrical & electronic equipment (10%), and
largest trading partner replacing the European Machinery & Mechanical appliances (8%) constituted
Union with total trade of more than USD 47 billion during around 60% of India’s total imports from ASEAN.
April-Jun 2022-23. The top three trading regions of India
are North East Asia, West Asia and North America, with A source of import diversification
their respective trade value of USD 71 billion, USD 67
billion and USD 52 billion in the said quarter. In India’s India imported around USD 295 billion of manufactured
bilateral trade with the ASEAN bloc, Indonesia has the goods excluding precious stones in FY 2021-22. Out of
highest share of 31% followed by Singapore (25.3%) and which, around USD 92 billion or around 33% were
Malaysia (16.2%). imported from China. This concentration of imports in a
single geographical location should be a cause of concern
Imports from ASEAN for India as any disruptive event may adversely affect
India’s supply chain, compromising its economic and
ASEAN is also the third largest source of imports for India strategic interests. ASEAN, which shares geographical
with more than USD 30 billion worth of imports during proximity with India and which has identical industrial
the quarter. India’s imports from ASEAN grew around structure similar to China is an ideal option for India to
63% in quarter 1 (Q1) of the current financial year as consider for import diversification and thus hedge
compared to the quarter a year ago. Compared to Q1 in against any supply-chain shocks.
the pre-pandemic period of FY 2019-20, imports have
grown by 56%. ASEAN's share in India’s imports has also
MVIRDC WTC Mumbai analysis has identified 27
grown from 11% to 13% during the same period. Of the commodities (at HS 6-digit level) where ASEAN has the
total imports from ASEAN in Q1 of the ongoing financial
potential to substitute or complement imports from
year (2022-23), raw material (33%) and intermediate China. These 27 commodities belong to electronics,
goods (34%) summed upto 67%. Capital goods contrib- chemicals, textile, machinery, metals, plastics and auto-
uted around 17% of the total import from ASEAN (see the
components, to name a few. India’s import data for these
chart below). 27 goods is given in the annexure. India's imports in
these 27 commodities stood at around USD
31 billion in FY 2021-22, of which China’s
India's Imports from ASEAN in FY 2022-23
share is around 65% or USD 20 billion while
ASEAN had just above 9% share or USD 3
billion. In each of these commodities, China
has at least 50% share in India’s total
imports.
ASEAN has export competitiveness in these

commodities as it already accounts for 24%
of global exports of these goods or around
USD 260 billion. In each of these 27 com-
modities, ASEAN commands at least 10%
global export market share for these
products.
Sources- Ministry of Commerce, UNCTAD, Compiled by MVIRDC WTC Mumbai

ASEAN Desk ON TRADE
Annexure:
List of 27 commodities where India can diversify import source in favour of ASEAN
24.00%
Source: Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India; ITC, Geneva; Compiled by MVIRDC WTC Mumbai
n

WTC Mumbai Viewpoint ON TRADE
India can raise its share in world export of

footwear to 5% in 3 years
Central Footwear Training Institute, Agra was established in 1963 to support
Indian footwear industry through skill development, training, technology
upgradation and by providing common facility center. In an interview to ON
TRADE, Mr. Sanatan Sahoo, Director of the Institute raises concern about
India’s low share in world export of footwear products despite the country
being the second largest producer of these products after China. He strongly
feels that India can increase its share in world exports from 1.8% now to at
least 5% in the next three years given the present business environment and
favorable initiatives of the government.
exports nearly 5% of its production

and rest 95% of its production goes India is the second
to meet its own domestic demand. largest global producer
At the same time, India is the second
largest Footwear consuming of footwear after
Mr. Sanatan Sahoo
country after China with nearly 2.6 China, accounting for
billion pairs per annum, average per
Director, Central Footwear capita consumption is nearly 1.75 10.7% of global
Training Institute, Agra pairs while average global consump- footwear production of
tion is 3.1 pairs. It is somewhat 7-10
pairs in developed countries. Thus,
24.2 billion pairs.
Excerpts of the interview:
India sees a great potential in the
Give us an overview of India's near future keeping in view the 50,000 crores including Rs 32,000
growing economic conditions of the crore for Domestic market and Rs
footwear manufacturing
people and their disposable income. 18,000 crore for exports. India meets
sector, in terms of annual
There are nearly 15000 units hardly 1.8% of the global import
production, major production engaged in manufacturing footwear demand for footwear and it ranks
centres, employment, domes- in India and nearly 1.3 Million people 6th in exports. China holds the
tic sales, exports and India's are employed directly and equal largest share of 64.7% in meeting
position in world export. number indirectly in this sector. world’s import demand for foot-
wear.
Footwear industry plays a significant Footwear industries are concen-
role in the socio- economic develop- trated in a few states of the country India has a miniscule share in
ment of the country by creating like Chennai, Ambur, Ranipet, world export market despite
ample employment opportunities Vellore in Tamil Nādu; Agra, Kanpur, having abundance of raw
on the one hand and earning Noida, Saharanpur in UP; Mumbai,
material, viz. hides and skins.
substantial foreign exchange for the Kolhapur in Maharashtra; Kolkata in
What is your estimate of the
country on the other. India is the West Bengal; Ambala, Gurgaon,
second largest global producer of Panchkula, Faridabad, Karnal in
untapped export market for
footwear after China, accounting for Haryana; Jalandhar in Punjab; Jaipur Indian footwear and what are
10.7% of global footwear production in Rajasthan; Kozhikode, Ernakulam the challenges faced by Indian
of 24.2 billion pairs, according to a in Kerala; Hyderabad in Telangana cottage and micro units in
report. India produces 2.6 billion and Bengaluru in Karnataka. realizing this untapped export
pairs of different categories of potential?
footwear constituting almost equal The total turnover of the footwear
percentage of leather and non industry, including leather and non- Although India is the second largest
leather footwear. Out of these, India leather footwear is estimated at Rs. producer of footwear, its share is

Central Footwear Training Institute, Agra
less than 2% in meeting the world from 1.8% today to at least 5% in to modern technology, designs,
import demand. Being endowed next 3 years, which is quite realistic innovative packaging, credit
with vast raw material resource, keeping in view the present business worthiness to avail finance,
huge labour force and easy access to environment and favorable initia- branding and market promotion
technology and market manpower, tives of the Government. avenues, skill development, costing
it sees a great potential for increase & pricing, awareness about govern-
in exports and penetration to new As such, Indian footwear industry is ment schemes and participation in
markets especially to developing functioning on four different levels. international trade fairs or exhibi-
and under-developed countries. One is 100% export-oriented units. tions. Shortage of efficient and
According to the statistics for the Second is well organized units with competent manpower for dealing in
year 2021-22, export of Leather & its own established brands in the different activities is a common
non-Leather footwear and footwear domestic market with certain challenge faced by every micro and
component is about USD 2.51 bn percentage for exports. The small enterprise.
and more than 60% of our export
has gone to only seven countries, viz.
USA – (23.77%), Germany (11%), UK
India meets hardly 1.8% of the global import
(9.37%), Italy (5.91%), France (4.45%), demand for footwear and it ranks 6th in exports.
Spain (4.36%), China (2.80%) and 20
China holds the largest share of 64.7% in meeting
countries constitute about 80% of
our total export market. Many world’s import demand for footwear.
markets such as Japan, South Korea,
Singapore, UAE, Australia, South remaining two groups are small and How do you assess India's
Africa, Russia and even the SAARC micro units with the employment position in creating globally
countries are very poorly tapped. from 3 to 300 workers. Most of them
renowned brands in footwear
Markets of under- developed African target local markets while some of
products? What are the steps
countries could be a better destina- them export indirectly. These two
tion on one hand and focus on high groups face numerous challenges in the central and state govern-
value items to the developed operating their business cycle even ments need to take to make
countries on the other can be for sustaining in the domestic India a global hub for footwear
targeted. market. For targeting the export design?
market, it is sometimes out of reach
Post-Covid era has created many especially for the micro and artisanal Many Indian brands like Bata,
opportunities for the world leaders units which are large in number. The Liberty, Relaxo, Paragon, Red Tape,
to look at India while intending to challenges are huge but to name a Lancer, Hitz, Metro, Lakhani and VKC
shift their businesses from China, few, some of them have a low scale have created their own place in the
and it is the right time to be proactive of production, consistency in quality, global market whereas many of the
to tap it. India can set a target to adoption of modern technology, use world’s top brands outsource their
increase its share in world exports of appropriate materials, exposure products from India. The footwear

industry of the country is well production. Different proactive industries. Continuous interactive
c a p a b l e o f p ro d u c i n g q u a l i t y initiatives and promotional policy sessions, symposiums, training
p ro d u c t s o f g l o b a l s t a n d a rd s decisions shall be instrumental to programs, workshops and seminars
undoubtedly, but marketing those re a l i z e t h e i n t e n d e d t a r g e t s . will modify the knowledge and skill
products under its own brand name Establishment of Mega Leather of the Indian designers and make
is a major challenge. Not only is it a Parks or dedicated Industrial estates them think in global perspective.
costly affair but it also requires not only for production of footwear
expertise of a higher level to but also for processing raw materi- Special incentives for promotion of
establish the brand image even in als, components, accessories, design development in area of high
the national market. Moreover, the grinderies, fasteners, packing value and import substitution
scale of production with consistent materials etc. is the need of the hour. products like spike-athletic shoes,
quality and the supply chain Such parks or dedicated estates ski boots, riding shoes, mountain-
networking is a major concern. should have business development eering boots for high altitudes,
providers and other service provid- thermostatic shoes, water and oil-
The role of the government is very ers such as transport, clearing and resistant shoes etc. shall encourage
significant to make India a global forwarding agents, design studio, new entrants and potential entre-
hub for footwear design and training centers/ institutions, preneurs.
maintenance workshops etc. By
creating such parks / industrial What is the role of Central
The challenges are estates, India can strengthen the Footwear Training Institute in
capacity of its footwear industry to
huge but to name a enhancing global competitive-
go global with its own terms. Modern
ness of local artisans and
few, some of them cluster villages can be developed by
MSME units in the footwear
accommodating the footwear
have a low scale of sector?
artisanal units providing both
production, residential and workshop facilities
with common facility center with Central Footwear Training Institute,
consistency in quality, Agra, by virtue of its name and
design studio, common raw material
adoption of modern bank, common marketing outlet run n a t u re , h a s b e e n s u p p o r t i n g
through Special Purpose Vehicle footwear and allied industries
technology, use of through developing and supplying
(SPV) and Consortiums would
appropriate materials, enhance their socio-economic skilled and competent manpower
since its inception in 1963. The
exposure to modern conditions. Synergy between
curricula of its different courses are
different promotional schemes of
technology, designs, both state and central government based on the need of the industry
and comply with the norms of
innovative packaging, can make the endeavor easy and
National Skills Qualification
achievable.
credit worthiness to Design studios and incubation Framework (NSQF). In addition to
technical subjects, applied manage-
avail finance, branding centers equipped with latest and
advanced equipment with CAD/CAM ment topics are also covered to
and market promotion facilities shall add impetus to foster make trainees aware and handle
avenues, skill new innovative ideas and creations day-to-day affairs in their respective
to cater to the need of both domestic positions. All the courses are
development, costing and external market. Research and practical and the students get
& pricing, awareness development could be an integral enough scope for hands-on-practice
part while developing new products to understand the subject more
about government and accessories of such a Center of intensively. Project work, assign-
schemes and Innovation. International tie-ups ments, industry exposure, in-plant
with some world class design training, workshops and seminar on
participation in different technical and management
centers or institutes and hiring
international trade services of International exporters topics, visits to national and interna-
will add value to the design plat- tional trade fairs facilitate the
fairs or exhibtions. competency level of the students.
forms established at institutes or

The passed out students are well Entrepreneurship Development How can WTC Mumbai and
accepted in the footwear industry in Programs EDPs and Management Central Footwear Training
different capacities like designers, Development Programs (MDPs) are Institute collaborate to
pattern developers, production being conducted inviting guest
support aspiring and existing
supervisors, stage inspectors, faculties and experts from the
entrepreneurs in design
quality controllers, merchandisers, promotional organisations, indus-
m a r k e t e x e c u t i v e s , b u y- tries and trade. Organizing aware- training, technology adoption
ing/purchasing representatives etc. ness programs on different and marketing?
while many trainees prefer to start promotional schemes and initiatives
their own enterprise. of State and Central Government The collaboration of WTC Mumbai
adds value to the knowledge circle of and CFTI, Agra with their respective
Much emphasis is given on latest the entrepreneurs to avail of the core strength would create new
technological developments by benefit. Participation in different opportunities and possibilities both
adding modern machinery, equip- international fairs and exhibitions, for the prospective and existing
ment, CAD/CAM system, upgraded discussions, and interactive sessions entrepreneurs in the footwear and
programmable facility every year in helps in strengthening the capacity allied sectors. Also, as mentioned
consultation with the industry and to transfer the knowledge earlier, India’s export market for
experts. CFTI, with its state-of-the art forward by different means. footwear is concentrated in only a
machinery and equipment extends few countries and this leaves many
common facility services to MSMEs other developed countries unex-
to execute different operations
Establishment of plored. The African and other
including designing and pattern Mega Leather Parks or developing and underdeveloped
development to enable them to countries can be targeted. Such a
dedicated Industrial collaboration can help entrepre-
produce quality products with
advanced facilities. We have set up a estates not only for neurs explore new market, brand
Smart Conveyor with complete set of promotion, training of international
production of footwear participants, organizing B2Bs,
advanced machinery and equip-
ment having multi-operational but also for processing facilitating visit of foreign delegates,
features for upper fabrication work. organizing visit of Indian delegates
raw materials, to foreign countries (targeted
Modern management system with
industrial engineering applications components, market), new product development,
is practiced in this system for higher technology transfer, connecting to
accessories, grinderies, world class E-commerce platforms
productivity while ensuring better
quality. The set-up is being used to fasteners, packing and organizing international
conferences of footwear designing
provide job work facility to MSMEs materials etc. is the
besides giving practical exposure to and production technology.
the students of the institute. need of the hour.
Promoting local brand in foreign
Technical workshops, seminars, Being a training and synergy partner countries is a major challenge faced
short term training programs on to different state and central bodies, by small scale footwear manufactur-
different topics including productiv- CFTI shoulders the responsibility to ing units of our country. Our
ity improvement methodology, facilitate implementing different collaboration can facilitate adver-
t e c h n o l o g y u p g ra d a t i o n s a n d schemes of various ministries and tisement and publicity on interna-
designing being organized by the departments like DPIIT, NSSH, CLRI, tional platforms through the wide
institute facilitate the global LIDCOM, UPSDM, ODOP, VSSY, network of WTC Mumbai. We can
competitiveness of the industry. The MPCST, ATI, EDI and KVIC. The together support entrepreneurs in
Institute has developed an institute thus plays a significant role creating special web pages, promo-
Entrepreneurship Development Cell to foster new technologies, modern tional videos and promoting their
(EDC) with an objective to encourage manufacturing methods, skilling, brands through social media. We can
its students and outsiders interested upskilling and reskilling the people also jointly conduct market studies
to start their own enterprises in working in the industry. and analysis of specific countries to
footwear and allied field. Industrial identify promising export destina-
Motivation Campaigns (IMCs), tions.

WTC Mumbai can facilitate tie-ups to equip itself for providing better some reputed organizations
with international institutes / and effective training to its trainees facilitating direct and indirect
organizations and experts having and required services to the industry exports like DGFT, IIFT, CLE, IIM, EXIM
h a n d s - o n ex p e r t i s e a n d c o re in different dimensions. Adding new Bank, ECGC, International Chambers
strength in designs and/or manufac- facilities and upgrading the existing of Commerce and WTC Mumbai as
turing technology. It will benefit the infrastructure is considered as a w e l l , f o r o rg a n i z i n g d i ff e re n t
institute by strengthening its prime concern with the proactive programs and events to explore new
capacity and by providing better support of the Ministry. The Design overseas market destinations. Short
service to the industry as well. studio equipped with latest term courses on searching mecha-
Moreover, the Collaboration of CFTI CAD/CAM facilities is aimed to nism for new markets, export
and WTC Mumbai will be helpful to provide complete design solution to procedure & documentations and
conduct special training programs the industry and to cater to the need handling the challenges are a few
for international participants of the of customized shoes especially for identified topics to cover in such
l a t t e r ’s m e m b e r s o r a ffi l i a t e people having dimensional differ- programs.
organisations. These could be I) ence between both their feet.
Managers/Supervisors/Employees Training and exposure to the The institute is in the process of
of shoe industry (1-6 months) ii) advanced system is another developing a B2B portal very soon to
Prospective Entrepreneurs inter- objective of this studio. create a platform for both, the
ested in shoe industry (3 months) iii) potential micro and small manufac-
Students aspiring technical position The institute is planning to expand turers as the seller group on one side
in shoe industry- as per regular its capacities in a new campus in an and wholesalers, retailers, buying
courses conducted by the institute extensive area to have facilities of houses, merchant exporters and
and iv) Industry Promotion Officers/ global standards in new verticals like overseas importers on the other
Executives of foreign countries (5 to non-leather shoes, orthopedic side. It is planned to accommodate
10 days). CFTI can also extend shoes and special-purpose foot- the product information of nearly
consultancy services to develop wear, testing laboratory, design 500 MSEs and 50 large buyers
looking for outsourcing. A virtual
The institute is in the process of developing a ex h i b i t i o n s p a c e c a n a l s o b e
provided to showcase the product
B2B portal very soon to create a platform for both, features, company profiles, business
the potential micro and small manufacturers as terms & conditions and other
parameters to facilitate both the
the seller group on one side and wholesalers, buyer and seller group to contact
retailers, buying houses, merchant exporters and and interact with each other.
overseas importers on the other side. Joint collaboration with large

footwear industries and Industry
training institutes by deputing its studio with plug and play facility. It associations for organizing skill
expert faculties and /or providing can be very much instrumental for development programs for both
training to the faculties of respective effective training and to support fresh candidates and upskilling of
countries at Agra. MSMEs providing common facility existing employees are being
services in a wider spectrum. planned. Special training programs
Your organisation has estab- for the supervisors, managers and
lished Design Studio and it is In the near future, the institute will CEOs especially for the younger
be exploring the possibilities of tie- generation of existing industrialists
also in the process of setting
up with some Institutes of National a re a l s o b e i n g t h o u g h t o f t o
up Centre of Excellence to
and International reputation like empower the human resource and
support footwear sector. What CLRI, IIT, IIM, NID, EDI, NIFT, FDDI, also to improve their preparedness
is your future plan of action in Orthopedic Solution Providers to to take their business to new
enhancing export competi- strengthen its technological base heights.
tiveness of this sector? and management consultancy
capabilities. It is also equally n
The institute is in continuous effort intending to have collaboration with

Strengthening India-Latin America Economic Relations
D
espite much talk of
enhanced Indian engage-
ment with the region over
the past decade, India-Latin America
ties remain relatively limited. Last
year, bilateral trade between India
and Latin America totaled USD 45
billion and India’s total foreign direct
investment (FDI) was estimated to
be USD 12-16 billion. 1 Although
India-Latin America trade
rebounded in 2021 and 2022 (see
Figure 1), these numbers still pale in
comparison to those of Latin
America’s other major economic
partners. China’s total 2021 trade
with the region exceeded USD 445 Ms. Margaret Myers Mr. Steven Holmes
billion, for instance, and FDI flows Director, Asia and Latin Program Associate, Asia and
neared USD 159 billion, according to America Program Latin America Program
Red ALC-China calculations.2 Yet, as Inter-American Dialogue Inter-American Dialogue
Latin America grapples with the
wide-ranging effects of the Covid-19
pandemic, expansion of Indian trade enhanced India-Latin America with the region is largely focused in
and investment with the region engagement will center on those the region’s extractive (mining)
could certainly boost regional sectors in the region in which India is sectors. Latin American exports to
re c ov e r y, e s p e c i a l l y g i v e n a n already active. Much like other Asian India have mostly consisted of
anticipated boom in India’s eco- economic partners, India’s trade commodities, such as crude oil,
nomic performance this year, India’s
continued engagement within
Indian companies have also engaged with other
growth-promoting sectors in the
region, and growing interest among growth-promoting sectors in Latin America,
Latin American leaders in sizable including the provision of information technology
social spending and infrastructure
programs. (IT) services, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing
inputs, with much of India’s activity evident before
In the short term, whether in the
trade realm or in terms of foreign China established a sizable presence in these
direct investment, prospects for industries.
1
Ambassador (retd) R. Viswanathan, “India’s Exports to Latin America Increase by an Impressive 48% to a Record 18.9 Billion
Dollars in 2021-22.” Financial Express, May 24, 2022, sec. Defence. https://www.financialexpress.com/defence/indias-exports-
to-latin-america-increase-by-an-impressive-48-to-a-record-18-9-billion-dollars-in-2021-22/2535466/; Jorge Heine and Hari
Seshasayee, “Indian Foreign Policy: The Rise of the South and Indo-LAC Relations.” In Understanding Transition in South Asia
Economy, Politics, and Society (Essays in Honour of Partha S. Ghosh), edited by Vikash Kumar and Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury,
Ph.D. AF Press, 2020, 285.
2
Mark P. Sullivan and Thomas Lum, “China’s Engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean.” In Focus. Congressional
Research Service, May 4, 2022. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/row/IF10982.pdf; Enrique Dussel Peters, “Monitor of Chinese OFDI in
Latin America and the Caribbean 2021.” Red ALC-China, March 31, 2021, 6.

copper, and gold, which accounted a c t i v i t y ev i d e n t b e f o re C h i n a government’s official trade and

for USD 17.085 billion (or approxi- established a sizable presence in investment promotion agency,
mately 67 percent) of India’s total these industries. Indian IT companies were among the
imports from the region last year.3 first firms to invest in Latin America,
Agricultural products, such as In the IT sector, 18 Indian companies motivated by their desire to diversify
vegetable oils, have also accounted now employ more than 38,000 Latin their global reach, establish a
for a sizeable share of regional A m e r i c a n s . 4 M o re ov e r , t h e s e presence in the rapidly-expanding
exports to India. But, Indian compa- companies play a significant role in Latin American services market and
nies have also engaged with other the bilateral trade in services engage with the growing pool of IT
growth-promoting sectors in Latin between India and the region, graduates in the region.6 India is
America, including the provision of accounting for majority of the USD well-positioned to further expand IT
information technology (IT) services, 13.4 billion of trade in services in engagement with the region, helping
pharmaceuticals, and manufactur- 2019.5 According to Hari Seshasayee, to digitize and modernize LAC
ing inputs, with much of India’s trade advisor at the Colombian business processes as well as
Figure 1. India's Trade with Latin America, 2011-2022
50
43.86 44.08 44.50
45 43
40
38.89
36.45
35
33.85
Billions of US Dollars
31.38 31.31
29.75 29.3 29.7 30
30 27.66
25.7 25.62
24.4
25
19.7 19.6 20.67
20 18.43 18.89
14.92
15 12.77 13.7 13.16 13.18
11.33 12.48 12.1 12.74
10 10.4
10
0
11-12 12-13 13-14 14-15 15-16 16-17 17-18 18-19 19-20 20-21 21-22
Exports to Latin America Imports from Latin America Total Trade
Source: Ambassador (retd) R. Viswanathan, “India’s Exports to Latin America Increase by an Impressive 48% to a
Record 18.9 Billion Dollars in 2021-22.” Financial Express, May 24, 2022, sec. Defence.
https://www.financialexpress.com/defence/indias-exports-to-latin-america-incr ease-by-an-impressive-48-to-
a-record-18-9-billion-dollars-in-2021-22/2535466/.
3
Ambassador (retd) R. Viswanathan, “India’s Exports to Latin America Increase by an Impressive 48% to a Record 18.9 Billion Dollars in
2021-22.”
4
Hari Seshasayee. “Latin America’s Tryst with the Other Asian Giant, India.” The Wilson Center, May 2022, 4.
5
Seshasayee, 12; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. “Balanced International Trade in Services (2005-2019).”
OECD.Stat. https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=BATIS_EBOPS2010.

facilitate the growth of e-commerce, Expanding India-Latin American

financial technology and digital Indian IT economic cooperation will of course
banking across the region. companies were depend largely on the interests of
Indian companies, many of which
In the pharmaceuticals industry, 27
among the first firms still regard the region as far away
Indian companies operate 13 to invest in Latin and sometimes difficult to engage. A
manufacturing units across the relative lack of Spanish and
America, motivated by
region, with relatively low-cost Portuguese speakers in Indian
Indian medications often helping to their desire to diversify companies puts some at a disadvan-
reduce overall public healthcare their global reach and tage in the region due to continued
costs.7 Indian companies such as reliance on local partners.13
Glenmark, offer as many as 280 establish a presence in Additionally, those companies that
products to a dozen countries in the the rapidly-expanding have ventured to Latin America have
region, including in the areas of had mixed experiences to date, as
dermatology, oncology and cardiol- Latin American noted by former Indian Ambassador
ogy.8 Several others were active in services market. t o A rg e n t i n a , U r u g u a y, a n d
providing Covid-19 vaccines amid Paraguay, Rengaraj Viswanathan.
the pandemic. Prospects for growth Uruguay revoked a mining license
in this sector are relatively high—the tion may additionally be of interest for Zamin Resources, run by Indian
Latin American pharmaceutical to Indian companies, just as they businessman Pramod Agarwal, as
market is two times the size of the have been to other international Viswanathan explained in a recent
African and Middle Eastern markets investors. Almost two-thirds of account of Indian investment in the
combined, and was forecast back in global lithium reserves are located in region. An iron ore project in Bolivia
2018 to grow by nine percent per five Latin American countries: and a sugar venture in Brazil also
year through 2028.9 As Seshasayee Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Peru and ended poorly for Indian companies.
notes, healthcare industries in the Mexico.11 The metal is a key input for
Latin American region are also electric vehicles and an essential There are just as many—if not
growing at a rapid pace, particularly component for clean energy more—success stories, of course. In
in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina, systems. Increased lithium-related the automobile sector, Indian
possibly providing Indian pharma- engagement by Indian companies in companies invest more and provide
ceutical companies the chance to the region is indeed possible, m o re e m p l oy m e n t t h a n t h e i r
enter higher-value segments of the especially given that Indian investors Chinese counterparts in the region,
healthcare value chain. 10 such as Hero MotoCorp have according to Seshasayee. Indian
reportedly expressed some interest auto parts company Motherson
Beyond the region’s copper and in joint production of electric Group has established 27 auto parts
gold, lithium extraction and produc- vehicles.12 manufacturing plants in Latin
6
Seshasayee, “Latin America’s Tryst with the Other Asian Giant, India,” 11.
7
Seshasayee, 13.
8
Glenmark web page, https://glenmarkpharma.com/product-overview/global-presence-glenmark-latin-america/.
9
Hari Seshasayee, “India and Latin America: Moving from Transactional to Permanent Healthcare Partners.” Georgetown Journal of
International Affairs, March 18, 2021. https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2021/03/18/india-and-latin-america-moving-from-transactional-
to-permanent-healthcare-partners/; Guillaume Corpart, “Latin America’s Pharmaceutical Market Growing by 9% a Year.” Global
Health Intelligence, June 18, 2018. https://globalhealthintelligence.com/ghi-analysis/latin-americas-pharmaceutical-market-growing-
by-9-a-year/.
10
Seshasayee, “India and Latin America: Moving from Transactional to Permanent Healthcare Partners.”
11
Emily Pickrell, “Latin America’s Lithium: Opportunity or a Fool’s Errand.” Forbes, February 26, 2022.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/uhenergy/2022/02/26/latin-americas-lithium-opportunity-or-a-fools-errand/?sh=777486a52bcd.
12
Seshasayee, “Latin America’s Tryst with the Other Asian Giant, India,” 24.
13
Deepak Bhojwani, “India and Latin America: The Way Forward.” Indian Foreign Affairs Journal 13, no. 1 (March 2018): 68.

Healthcare industries in the Latin American region are also growing at a

rapid pace, particularly in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina, possibly providing
Indian pharmaceutical companies the chance to enter higher-value segments
of the healthcare value chain. Beyond the region’s copper and gold, lithium
extraction and production may additionally be of interest to Indian
companies, just as they have been to other international investors.
America and employs 25,000 people Goals. In fact, India has already well help to boost overall trade. A
in the region. 14 With over 2,000 n o t e d s o m e o f t h e s e s h a re d report issued in 2019 by the Inter-
employees, South America is also a interests in its partnership with American Development Bank and
key node in Indian manufacturing CARICOM. In 2019, Prime Minister Indian Export-Import Bank recom-
supplier Aditya Birla Group’s global Narendra Modi offered CARICOM mends increasing the coverage of
network. Three of the group’s countries USD 14 million in grants trade and investment agreements,
companies— Novelis, Birla Carbon, for quick impact community enhancing trade-facilitation
and Swiss Singapore Overseas development projects, a USD 150 measures, and undertaking targeted
Enterprise—are active in the region. million line of credit for solar energy trade-promotion activities. 16
And UPL, India’s largest agrochemi- and climate change related projects,
cal firm, does more business in Latin and special capacity building As a major shareholder in the New
America than in India. courses.15 An India-CARICOM Task Development Bank (NDB), or BRICS
Force was also proposed at the time bank, and the Asian Infrastructure
Although much depends on the to reinvigorate India-CARICOM Investment Bank (AIIB), India is
interests and capacity of individual cooperation. additionally linked to these banks
companies, Indian government efforts to finance certain projects in
efforts to further prioritize Though operating without a the region. The NDB recently
engagement with Latin America comprehensive Latin America policy, approved two loans worth USD 140
would also do much to advance India has nevertheless established a million to finance Brazilian
relations. This begins with the h a n d f u l o f p re f e re n t i a l t ra d e infrastructure projects, but financing
formulation of a clearly articulated a g re e m e n t s ( P TA s ) w i t h L a t i n thus far has been restricted solely to
policy toward the region, emphasiz- American nations and trade blocs, BRICS members. To date, Uruguay,
ing areas of common interest. These including Chile and Mercosur. which is a prospective member, is
would include shared economic Furthermore, India is currently in the the only Latin American affiliate of
goals, no doubt, but also common process of negotiating additional the NDB other than Brazil.17 China
efforts to combat climate change PTAs with Peru and Ecuador. New has raised the prospect of
and broader interests among India and expanded trade deals, including Argentina’s membership in the
and many partner nations in Latin with other top trade partners in the BRICS bloc and India affirmed its
America in advancing the United region, such as Mexico and support for the idea during a recent
Nations Sustainable Development Colombia (see Figure 2), may very high-level visit to the country. The
14
Hari Seshasayee, “Latin America: The Last Frontier for India’s Foreign Policy.” Observer Research Foundation, June 6, 2022.
https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/the-last-frontier-for-indias-foreign-policy/.
15
“India-CARICOM Bilateral Relations.” Guyana: High Commission of India Georgetown, Guyana, February 2021.
https://www.hcigeorgetown.gov.in/pdf/5.%20India-Caricom.pdf.
16
Paolo Giordano, et. al., “A Bridge Between India and Latin America: Policy Options for Deeper Economic Cooperation,” Inter-
American Dialogue and Export-Import Bank of India, June 2019, https://publications.iadb.org/en/bridge-between-india-and-latin-
america-policy-options-deeper-economic-cooperation.
17
New Development Bank. “List of All New Development Bank Projects,” August 25, 2022. https://www.ndb.int/projects/list-of-all-
projects/; New Development Bank. “NDB’s Member Countries,” August 29, 2022. https://www.ndb.int/about-
us/organisation/members/.

Figure 2. India’s Total Trade with Top Latin American Partners, 2021/2022
14
$12.2
12
10
Billions of US Dollars
$8.7
6 $5.6
$4.3
4 $3.6
$2.6
$2.2
2 $1.3
0
Brazil Mexico Argentina Colombia Peru Chile Bolivia Ecuador
Source: Department of Commerce, Export Import Data Bank. “Total Trade: Top 50 Countries.” Government of
India - Ministry of Commerce and Industry, August 29, 2022.
https://tradestat.commerce.gov.in/eidb/iecnttopn.asp.
AIIB’s presence in Latin America is Dr. S. Jaishankar during his August its companies may indeed be in a
more expansive, having provided or 2022 visit to Brazil, Paraguay, and better than ever position to look to
a p p rov e d fi n a n c e t h u s f a r t o Argentina. As India and Latin new markets. Furthermore, as the
Ecuador, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, America emerge from the immedi- region grapples with implications of
Mexico, and Peru.18 ate economic effects of the growing US-China competition, new
pandemic, the Minister considered sources of trade and investment,
Overall, there is reason to be prospects for making Latin America especially in growth-promoting
optimistic about the future of Indian- “a very big business hub” for India.19 sectors, would be largely welcome in
LAC economic relations, as noted by With India positioned to lead the Latin America and the Caribbean.
Indian Minister of External Affairs world in economic growth in 2023,
18
Juan Manuel Harán, “Ecuador and the First AIIB Project in Latin America.” The Diplomat, December 10, 2021.
https://thediplomat.com/2021/12/ecuador-and-the-first-aiib-project-in-latin-
america/#:~:text=Parsing%20Ecuador's%20%2450%20million%20project,development%20bank%20in%20Latin%20America.&text=I
n%20November%202020%2C%20the%20Asian,non%2Dregional%20member%3A%20Ecuador; Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank.
“Multicountry: Global Infrastructure Partners Emerging Markets Fund 1 (‘GIP EM’ or the ‘Fund’),” June 10, 2021.
https://www.aiib.org/en/projects/details/2021/approved/Multicountry-Global-Infrastructure-Partners-Emerging-Markets-Fund-
I.html; Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank. “Our Projects,” August 25, 2022.
https://www.aiib.org/en/projects/list/index.html?status=Approved.
19
“Latin America can be a major business hub in Latin America with concerted efforts,” The Hindu, August 24, 2022,
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/latin-america-can-be-a-major-business-hub-for-india-with-concerted-efforts-s-jaishankar-
in-brazil/article65805759.ece

WTC Mumbai Events ON TRADE
Immense untapped potential for bilateral trade

between India and Cuba
announced that Cuba has a big tourism industry and
there is a vast potential for Indian investments in Cuba,
specifically in tourism and the film industry. He also
pointed out that Cuba being the centre of the South
American continent can be a gateway for Indian investors
to enter Latin America and the Caribbean markets.
Mr. Abel Aballe Despaigne,

Deputy Head of Cuba Mission in
India highlighted five key sectors
which have a huge untapped
potential for India and Cuba to
explore and collaborate for
mutual economic development.
These five sectors are: Renewable
Energy, Biotech and Pharma, Information and
Ms. Rupa Naik, Executive Director, WTC Mumbai with H.E. Communication technology, Agro and Tourism. He also
Mr. Alejandro Simancas Marin, Ambassador of the Republic pointed out that during the Cuban Business Forum of
of Cuba to India. 2020, Indian companies had the highest number of
participation, outnumbering China.
“Cuba seeks World Trade Centre Mumbai’s assistance in
supporting their effort to foster Assuring Cuban representative of all possible support,
conventional trade relation with M s . R u p a N a i k , E xe c u t i v e
India” expressed H.E. Mr. Director MVIRDC World Trade
Alejandro Simancas Marin, Centre Mumbai said that India
Ambassador of the Republic of and Cuba has a lot of unexplored
Cuba to India at an interactive potential and WTC Mumbai being
m e e t i n g o r g a n i s e d by W TC India’s premier international trade
Mumbai. He further added that promotion organisation would
India is a very important trade like to be the bridge between
partner for Cuba, but due to lack of knowledge, Cuban Indian and Cuban traders. She extended her invitation to
companies are yet to recognise India as a potential Cuban companies to participate in WTC Mumbai’s
market. However the Cuban government is working on flagship event ‘Connect India’ (1 st August – 30th
educating our companies regarding the significance of November) which can further improve their understand-
the same. ‘‘Having no direct flights between both ing regarding Indian markets and opportunities therein.
countries is yet another reason that makes it difficult for
India and Cuba to trade with each other’’ he expressed. The meeting was held on July 2, 2022 at WTC Mumbai.
Referring to India’s massive film industries, Mr. Marin
n
Highlights of India - Cuba Economic Relations

Areas of future cooperation
Ø Today, our bilateral trade is hardly USD 27 million, which has potential to grow upto USD 500 million

Ø India’s import from Cuba is dominated by traditional products such as metal scrap, tobacco and to some extent
pharmaceuticals. We need to diversify our imports into other products such as nickel, biopharmaceuticals, copper
and agro products, among others.
Ø Given the US sanctions, India can engage in barter trade with Cuba by buying nickel, copper and crude oil
Ø Indian firms can invest in Mariel Special Economic Zone (in Cuba), which can be a gateway to Latin America and the
Caribbean.
Ø Both the countries can collaborate in pharmaceuticals, IT, tourism, renewable energy, sugar, biotechnology and
infrastructure development.
Ø India can provide financial support for food processing plant, including sugar mills, fertilizer plants, wind, solar and
other renewable energy projects in Cuba
About Cuba:
Ø Cuba is the largest island nation in the Caribbean sea and it is strategically located at the center of Arabian Sea, Gulf
of Mexico and the Caribbean.
Ø India was among the first countries to recognize the new Cuba government in January 1959 after revolution. Cuba is
among the top 10 producers of cobalt and nickel and has significant other mineral and petroleum resources.
India- Cuba Relationship:
Ø Despite sanctions from USA, India supported Cuba through financial assistance for renewable energy and infra
projects, donation of food, COVID vaccines, medicine, agro machineries etc.
Ø India offered USD 250 million Lines of Credit to Cuba for milk processing plants, fertilizer plant, pharma and power
generation projects.
Ø India offered financial assistance to Cuba for procuring rice from our country.
People to People Contacts:
Ø Cuba has a small Indian-origin population of 200 people who migrated from Jamaica in early 1900s as sugarcane
plantation labourers.
Trade Statistics:
Ø Trade is in favour of India as India exports USD 26 million worth of commodities against import of just USD 1 million.
Ø India’s exports to Cuba (2021-22): USD 26 million (Sectors: Pharmaceutical products, organic chemicals, plastic
products, medical equipment, engineering goods, textile products, metal products, mineral oil products and tools.)
Ø India’s imports from Cuba (2021-22): USD 1 million (Sectors: battery scrap, tobacco, iron & steel scrap, crude oil)
(Source: Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India)

Webinar to observe 20th WTCA Day

dollar is less than the depreciation seen in the
currencies of other advanced and emerging
markets, such as UK, Japan, South Korea and
China. The better performance of Indian
currency against these developed and
emerging markets reflects India’s prudent
management of the challenges of pandemic,
inflation and global supply chain disruption.
India has managed to prevent shortage of
essential commodities such as food, fuel,
medicine and COVID vaccines in this challeng-
ing time.”
Dr. Kalantri added that as a result of our

economic resilience, the Indian currency has
depreciated by only 6%, against 26% depreci-
T
he emerging world trade order is being shaped by
ation in the currency of Japan, 16-17% depreciation of
shifting global supply chain, trade restrictive
Chinese renminbi and around 16% decline in the value of
policies by several countries, fourth industrial
UK sterling.
revolution and other factors. In order to discuss the role
Dr. Kalantri, who is also the Chairman of Agriculture
of World Trade Centers amidst this changing world trade
Member Advisory Council (MAC) of WTCA, New York,
order, WTCA Asia Pacific Regional Office (APRO)
informed that the Council will create a digital platform to
organised a webinar on the theme ‘Shape Up WTC
promote global trade in agro products.
Business Operations for a New Era’. The webinar also
focused on volatile commodity prices, depreciation in
In her remarks, Ms. Rupa Naik,
exchange rates of major currencies and their impact on
Executive Director, MVIRDC
world trade and food security of developing countries.
WTC Mumbai highlighted the role
The APAC Trade Services Member Advisory Council (MAC)
of the Center in connecting
also partnered with APRO in organising this webinar.
MSMEs and women entrepre-
n e u r s t o g l o b a l m a r ke t s by
This webinar was organised to mark the 20th anniversary
launching a new age digital
of the UN-designated WTCA Day, which is observed every
platform called wetrade.org.
year to display the spirit of solidarity among all the WTCs.
Ms. Naik pointed out that the Center connected more
Speakers at the session highlighted major trends shaping
than 1000 exhibitors to buyers in foreign countries by
up WTC business operations in the Asia Pacific region,
organising online bilateral exhibitions with Vietnam,
and also examined their impact on trade facilities and
Mauritius, Thailand, Zambia, Southern African region,
services offered by WTCs in the region.
Brazil and the Caribbean region.
Speaking on this occasion, Dr.

The webinar was also addressed by Mr. Robin van
Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, World
Puyenbroeck, Executive Director-Business Development,
Trade Center Mumbai and
WTCA, New York; Mr. Scott Wang, Vice President, Asia
Board Director - World Trade
Pacific, WTCA, New York and functionaries of WTCs in
Centers Association (WTCA),
India, Taipei, Beijing, Binh Duong New City, Metro Manila
New York explained the resil-
and Suzhou.
ience of India amidst emerging
global economic shocks.
The webinar was held on July 6, 2022.
He said, “The recent depreciation in Indian rupee against n

WTC Mumbai and IASA to boost trade with Australia
(From left to right): Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, WTC Mumbai; Mr. Eric Abetz, Former Senator for Tasmania in Australia; Dr.
Jagvinder Singh Virk, Chairman of the India Australia Strategic Alliance; Capt. Somesh Batra, Vice Chairman, WTC Mumbai; Capt.
Ramesh Gulati, Council Member, WTC Mumbai and Ms. Rupa Naik, Executive Director, WTC Mumbai.
I
ndia and Australia have huge untapped trade and with the support of WTC Mumbai, to promote trade and
investment potential given their complementarities in investment between the two countries. Through this
sectors such as mining, energy, agriculture, education MoU, both the organisations will work jointly to realise
and skill development. According to an estimate by ITC this objective.”
Geneva, India has an untapped export potential worth
USD 2 billion in sectors such as auto & auto-components, In his remarks, Mr. Eric Abetz,
pharmaceuticals, gems & jewellery, insecticides, textile, former Senator for Tasmania in
rice, shrimp and chemicals. Australia emphasised the need
for Australia to increase trade
In order to discuss this untapped export potential, volume with India to diversify and
MVIRDC WTC Mumbai organised an interactive de-risk its supply chain. He further
programme with an inbound business delegation led by added that currently Indians have
Dr. Jagvinder Singh Virk, Chairman of the India Australia become the largest migrant
Strategic Alliance (IASA) population in Australia and there should be no limitation
to India- Australia co-operation. ‘‘Australia is willing to co-
A key highlight of the event was the signing of operate with India in fields of education, healthcare and
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between knowledge transfers.”
MVIRDC WTC Mumbai and IASA to conduct various joint
trade and investment promotion programs to strengthen Earlier in his welcome remarks,
economic ties between both the countries. Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman,
MVIRDC World Trade Center
Speaking on this occasion, Dr. Virk remarked, “IASA Mumbai pointed out that both
proposes to form a quasi-government task force or think the countries can collaborate in
tank between the state of Maharashtra and Australia education, mining, aero-space,
infrastructure, shipping & ports,

which are focus sectors besides the ones mentioned Connect India commenced virtually on August 1, 2022
above. and is a digital platform to help Indian companies to
connect globally.
Dr. Kalantri raised confidence that the recently signed
trade agreement between India and Australia will Presenting Vote of Thanks, Capt.
accelerate bilateral trade. He called for the need to Somesh Batra, Vice Chairman,
amend the double taxation agreement between two MVIRDC WTC Mumbai proposed
countries that was signed 30 years ago and also sug- c o l l a b o ra t i o n b e t w e e n W TC
gested setting up of a joint fund to promote research and Mumbai Education Institute and
development activities in India. University Tasmania to provide
courses on trade promotion and
M s . R u p a N a i k , E xe c u t i v e skill development to support
Director MVIRDC World Trade businesses from both countries.
Center Mumbai, in her remarks,
extended an invitation to The interactive programme was attended by members of
Australian business delegates to trade and industry.
participate in WTC Mumbai’s
flagship Trade Show ‘Connect The interactive programme was held on July 19, 2022
India 2022’ which will further improve business relations at WTC Mumbai.
between both countries.
n
Highlights of India - Australia Trade Relations
In 2018, Australia adopted India Economic Strategy 2035 as a roadmap to strengthen bilateral ties
Huge Trade Deficit with Australia:
Ø Currently, Australia is the 10th largest trade partner of India
Ø India has a huge trade deficit with Australia
Ø Bilateral trade stands at USD 25 billion, with USD 8 billion Indian exports and USD 16.7 billion Indian imports
Ø To correct this trade deficit, India signed a trade agreement with Australia in April this year
Trade Agreement:
Ø India signed an Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement with Australia in April this year.
Ø The agreement will be implemented post ratification by the Parliament of both countries
Ø Under this agreement, India will get duty-free market access in Australia for 96% of our exports or 6,000 products
across textile, leather, furniture, jewellery etc.
Ø The agreement aims to double two-way trade and make India one of the top 3 export destinations for Australia
Ø Australia also aims to make India the top 3 investment destination in Asia

Proposed Amendment in DTAA:
Ø India wants Australia to amend the 1991 Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement
Ø Such an amendment will exempt Indian IT companies offering services in Australia from paying tax in that country.
Currently, Indian IT firms are paying tax both in India as well as in Australia
Focus sectors:
Ø Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) : India aims to import natural gas at lower duty from energy rich Australia
Ø India also has plans to collaborate with Australia in renewable energy
Ø Australia is a well-diversified economy, with high productivity in natural gas, education, health, tourism, mining and
agri-business sectors.
Natural Resources:
Ø Australia is a leading producer of gold, iron ore and uranium. India can import some of these minerals from Australia
India Economic Strategy 2035:
Ø Under this strategy, Australia aims to increase air connectivity with India
Ø Upgrade Austrade office in Kolkata into a full Consulate General
Ø Establish Consulate General in Bengaluru
Ø Increase funding to Australia-India Research Fund
Ø Introduce Joint Research Fund to support doctoral students
Ø Establish Australia-India Food Partnership
Agri-business Renewable Energy Mining

WTC Mumbai signs MoU with Vietnam’s Invest Global
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, General Director of Invest Global exchanging MoU with Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, MVIRDC WTC
Mumbai (second from left) at an interactive meeting. Also seen in the photograph are: Mr. Duong Duc Anh, Vice Consul, DCM,
Consulate General of Vietnam in Mumbai (first from left) and Mr. Ajoykant Ruia, Vice Chairman, MVIRDC WTC Mumbai (extreme
right).
V
ietnam, a member of ASEAN, is a strategic and future. ‘‘Even amidst the COVID pandemic, India-Vietnam
economic partner of India. In FY 2021-22, Vietnam trade grew from USD 12 billion in FY20 to USD 14 billion in
was the 23rd largest trading partner of India FY22” he informed.
globally and the 4th largest within the ASEAN region,
following Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. Bilateral Mr. Anh invited Indian companies to invest in the
trade between the two countries grew more than seven pharmaceutical park dedicated for Indian companies in
times in the last decade, from around USD 2 billion in FY Vietnam. This park, he said, was being developed by the
2011-12 to more than USD 14 billion in FY 2021-22. Government of Vietnam on 600 hectare land for Indian
Despite the rising bilateral trade, there still is a huge drug companies. “I assure that this park will help Indian
untapped trade potential for the two countries, espe- drug companies to be recognized across the globe
cially in sectors such as electronics, pharma, textiles and because of the excellent connectivity and numerous
agro products. trade agreements of Vietnam” expressed Mr. Anh.
In order to realise this untapped trade potential, MVIRDC Earlier in his welcome remarks,
World trade Center Mumbai organised an interactive Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman,
meeting on ‘Trade and Investment Opportunities in MVIRDC WTC Mumbai pointed
Vietnam” with Mr. Duong Duc Anh, Vice Consul, DCM, out that India and Vietnam would
Consulate General of Vietnam in Mumbai and other be able to double their trade
delegates from Vietnam. The event was also addressed volume from USD 15 billion to 30
by Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, General Director of Invest billion if a Rupee-Dong trade
Global and other members of the Vietnam delegation, settlement mechanism is intro-
which included representatives from large and small duced on the lines of the Rupee-Ruble and Rupee-Rial
scale enterprises. trade mechanism.
In his address, Mr. Anh remarked Speaking on this occasion, Ms.

that India currently ranks as the Nguyen made a presentation on
23 r d largest trade partner of how her organisation can facilitate
Vietnam and he hopes it reaches Indian companies foray into the
the 15th position in the near Vietnamese market by helping

A key highlight of the session was the signing of

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between WTC
Mumbai and Invest Global to promote trade, investment,
technology and other forms of co-operation between
both countries.
Mr. Ajoykant Ruia, Vice

Chairman, MVIRDC WTC
Mumbai proposed vote of thanks
for the event.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, General Director of Invest Global This programme was held on July 26, 2022 at WTC
(right) felicitating Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, MVIRDC WTC Mumbai.
Mumbai at the interactive meeting to promote India-
Vietnam Trade and Investment. n
them find right partners, liaising with Vietnam govern-

ment for licensing and statutory approvals etc.
India-Vietnam Relations
This year, India and Vietnam celebrate 50 years of diplomatic ties
Our relation has grown from strength to strength in these five decades
Focus Sectors:
Infrastructure, Maritime & Marine Products, Fisheries, Green Energy, Pharmaceuticals, Agriculture, Electronics, Import,
Export of Goods and Investment
Investment:
Infrastructure and renewable energy are high potential sectors for both the countries.
Already, Indian firms are implementing more than 313 projects in Vietnam with total investment of USD 1 billion.
India is the 25th largest investor in Vietnam
EXIM Bank of India, Bank of India and other Indian banks are actively supporting Indian investments in Vietnam
Indian companies have invested in Vietnam in energy, mineral exploration, agro-processing, sugar, tea, coffee manufac-
turing, agro-chemicals, IT and auto components.
Vietnam has invested in six projects in India with total estimated investment of USD 28.55 million in pharma, IT, chemi-
cals and building materials.

Pharmaceutical is another focus sector as India is the pharmacy of the world and Vietnam can supply key chemical
ingredients used in pharma production
Electronics is another high potential sector for collaboration
Already, Vietnam is the 5th largest supplier of electrical and electronic goods to India
Trade:
Both sides can utilise duty-free benefits under India-ASEAN trade agreement
India is among top 8 trade partners of Vietnam
Vietnam is the 4th largest trade partner of India in ASEAN and 23rd largest in the world.
In 2021, bilateral trade reached USD 14.4 billion for the first time.
Both the countries set target of USD 15 billion trade in 2022.
Vietnam has recently reformed its FDI policy to attract foreign investments
Both countries can also collaborate in start-up sectors such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain,
fintech, e-commerce etc.
Vietnam has FTAs with EU and UK, besides RCEP. So, it can serve as India’s gateway to these regions.
Trade Statistics:
Bilateral Trade 2021-2022 (Apr-Mar): USD 14.4 billion
Ø India’s exports to Vietnam 2021-2022 (Apr-Mar): 6.70 USD billion
Ø India’s imports from Vietnam 2021-2022 (Apr-Mar): 7.44 USD billion
Source: Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India
Key goods exported by India to Vietnam in 2021-2022 (Apr-Mar):
Iron and steel, cotton, cereals, meat and fishery products, electrical machinery, auto parts, cement, plaster, paper
articles, inputs for leather articles, chemicals, chemicals, pharma, minerals and its products as well as animal feed
Key goods exported by Vietnam to India in 2021-2022 (Apr-Mar):
Electrical and electronic equipment, chemicals, machinery, plastic, copper and rubber, coffee, tea and spices, iron and
steel articles, footwear, fertilizers, animal feed, inorganic chemicals, metals, silk, optical, medical and surgical equip-
ment.

MVIRDC WTC Mumbai Releases Study on India’s Export
I
ndia’s merchandise exports witnessed phenomenal Mr. Bery welcomed the idea of encouraging foreign trade
growth of 34% in the year 2021-22 from its pre- settlement in local currency and suggested that RBI and
pandemic level in 2019-20. In order to sustain this banks may resolve practical difficulties such as free
growth momentum, Indian exporters need to be globally convertibility of local currencies, availability of hedging
competitive in terms of cost, delivery timelines and and trade finance in local currencies, development of
quality. To understand the issue of competitiveness, alternative payment infrastructure etc.
MVIRDC WTC Mumbai conducted a study on 'India's
Export Competitiveness' through an extensive primary He also suggested WTC Mumbai and other export
survey and meticulous analysis of foreign trade data from promotion organisations to handhold MSMEs and
authentic sources such as UNCTAD, ITC, Geneva and integrate them in the global value chain in the new world
India's Ministry of Commerce. order, where they have to comply with strict
sustainability standards involving environment, labour
Based on the survey and data analysis, the study made and product traceability norms. ‘‘These sustainability
more than eight policy recommendations for boosting standards are important issues in our negotiation of
exports. The study identified 100 champion products for trade agreement with large partners such as European
exports, highlighted export potential in North Eastern Union’’ pointed out Mr. Bery.
states and examined trends in services exports.
Earlier in his welcome remarks, Dr. Vijay Kalantri,
The study was released by Mr. Suman Bery, Vice Chairman, MVIRDC World Trade Center Mumbai
Chairman, NITI AAYOG at a virtual event organised by suggested that the central government may set up a task
MVIRDC WTC Mumbai on July 29, 2022. Speaking at this force under NITI AAYOG to revive local MSME units that
programme, Mr. Bery suggested that India should focus became sick due to unfair competition from imports,
on promoting apparel export on mission mode. He especially in printed circuit boards, white goods and
strongly felt that there was no reason for India to lose out electronic components.
on export opportunity in this sector to neighbouring
countries as it has been a global hub for textile manufac- During the programme, Mr. Suman Bery also launched
turing since time immemorial. ‘’It is time we leverage our WTC Mumbai’s Connect India Trade Show 2022, which
policy initiatives such as mega textile parks to aim for aims to facilitate global market access for more than
increased exports not only in yarn and fabrics, but also in 50,000 MSMEs through a digital platform. This platform
apparel and clothing” recommended Mr. Bery. enables local companies to showcase their products and
services to their prospective buyers in India and abroad.
The study highlighted that India’s share in world export of The digital platform went live from August 1, 2022 and is
high value added items such as apparel & clothing has scheduled to end at November 30, 2022.
remained stagnant at around 2.3% since 1990, even as
our share in low value added items such as yarn, fabrics, The programme was held on July 29, 2022 at WTC
made-up articles improved from 2% to 6% between 1990 Mumbai.
and 2018.
n

WTC Mumbai celebrates 75 years of Independence

of ‘Har Ghar Thiranga ’. All the residential, commercial
and government buildings in this area are well decorated
with the national flag. Within a short span of time, the
entire administrative machinery of the state government
and the Municipal Corporation has made arrangements
to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (75 years of Indian
Independence).”
Ms. Narvekar further spoke about

her vision to transform Cuffe
Parade and Nariman Point into a
sustainable habitat by protecting
the coastline from the rising sea
level. She also plans to revive
localities in Colaba, Nariman Point
and Cuffe Parade by collaborating
with urban planners and designers. ‘‘Already, we have
started urban revival project at Kala Ghoda area with the
cooperation of residents in that area” highlighted Ms.
Narvekar.
In his welcome remarks, Dr. Vijay

Kalantri, Chairman, MVIRDC
World Trade Center Mumbai
Ms. Harshita A. Narwekar, Ex-Corporator, Brihanmumbai pointed out that the entire nation
Municipal Corporation hoisting the Indian flag at WTC has come together to celebrate 75
Mumbai to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. Also seen in years of Indian Independence
the photograph are: Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, WTC with pride and vigor. Speaking
Mumbai (5th from left); Capt. Somesh Batra, Vice Chairman, about India he mentioned that it is the sixth largest and
WTC Mumbai (4th from left) and Ms. Rupa Naik, Executive also the fastest growing economy. It stands tall by
Director, WTC Mumbai (next to Ms. Narwekar).
achieving overall progress in economy, tourism, food
security, information technology and space science. Dr.
W
TC Mumbai celebrated India’s 75 years of Kalantri further expressed that in this historic moment,
Independence from August 13, 2022 to August every Indian citizen should take the pledge to add on to
15, 2022. The inaugural session of the event the country’s progress by working towards realizing the
was attended by members of trade & industry and dream of USD 30 trillion economy before we reach 100
diplomatic corps from various countries, including years of Independence. He also highlighted that India
Indonesia, Japan, Iraq, Argentina and UAE. Ms. Harshita should aspire to be a global leader in renewable power,
A. Narwekar, Ex-Corporator, Brihanmumbai green energy and sustainable development. Dr. Kalantri
Municipal Corporation was the Chief Guest at the event. concluded by raising hope that India will be an economic,
cultural and political superpower to reckon with in the
Ms. Narwekar presided over the flag hoisting ceremony next two decades.
at the event and addressed the participants by sharing
her views on the journey of 75 glorious years of During the event, Ms. Narwekar and Dr. Kalantri
Independent India. She remarked, “Today, India stands inspected Guard of Honour and hoisted the national flag.
tall in the global map in terms of its resilient economy and Capt. Somesh Batra, Vice Chairman, MVIRDC WTC
excellent relations with foreign countries. The residents Mumbai proposed the vote of thanks for the event.
of Cuffe Parade and Nariman Point have responded with
zeal and enthusiasm to the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s call The event was held on August 13, 2022.

Costa Rica mulls India, Central America trade pact
H.E. Mr. Claudio Ansorena, Ambassador of the Republic of Costa Rica to India (middle) addressing the audience at the
programme. Also seen in the photograph are (from left to right): Ms. Rupa Naik, Executive Director, MVIRDC WTC Mumbai and
Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, MVIRDC WTC Mumbai.
C
osta Rica may be a small nation with 5.5 million to him there is immense opportunity to develop infra-
people; but it is centrally located in the South structure such as roads, ports and airports in Costa Rica
American continent to become the potential and suggested Indian companies to bid for these
logistics and distribution hub for Indian companies projects.
seeking to enter the continent. The country has cultural
and business ties with India as there are 18 Indian IT Speaking about opportunities for collaboration, the
companies, 12 Indian restaurants and an Indian diaspora Ambassador pointed out, that both countries can
of 700 people living in Costa Rica. collaborate in sustainable marine ecosystem, plastic
waste recycling and green hydrogen. ‘‘In Costa Rica India
WTC Mumbai in association with has an export potential in sectors like pharmaceuticals,
Indian Chamber of International wellness & traditional medicine, auto-components and
Business organized an interactive electric vehicles besides export of services such as IT,
meeting with H.E. Mr. Claudio tourism & hospitality and construction” he highlighted.
Ansorena, Ambassador of the H.E. Mr. Ansorena proposed to exchange a trade mission
Republic of Costa Rica to India to promote trade, investment and technology coopera-
to discuss the roadmap for tion between both countries.
strengthening commercial, tourism and technology
cooperation between both the countries. Earlier in his welcome remarks,
Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman,
Speaking on this occasion, the Ambassador mentioned MVIRDC World Trade Center
that Costa Rica is keen to lead negotiation for a free trade Mumbai pointed out that the
agreement (FTA) between India and other Central current bilateral trade is hardly
American countries such as Panama and Dominican USD 180 million, which can be
Republic. He said that this is the best time for Indian firms increased to at least USD 1 billion
to do business with Costa Rica as three months ago, the under the leadership of the Ambassador. Both countries
country got a new government which is more liberal and can collaborate in technology cooperation for hydrogen
also has withdrawn a lot of import restrictions. According fuel and green energy.

M s . R u p a N a i k , E xe c u t i v e global market presence for MSMEs and women entrepre-

Director, WTC Mumbai while neurs” explained Ms. Naik.
proposing the vote of thanks
invited companies from Costa Rica The programme was attended by members of trade &
to participate in WTC Mumbai’s industry, academia, financial institutions and consular
flagship online trade show corps.
‘Connect India 2022’, which is a
collaborative initiative of WTC Mumbai and WTCA, New The programme was held on August 17, 2022.
York. ‘‘More than 25 countries are participating in this
exhibition and it is an excellent opportunity to increase
Highlights of India - Costa Rica Economic Relations
Costa Rica is the most politically and socially stable MASESA is a leading distributor of motorcycles in Costa
country in Central America, with a population of just 5 Rica and it imports Bajaj Auto’s two-wheeler and three-
million wheeler parts for subsequent assembly and sales in
the local market.
Indian nationals with valid US or Schengen visas can
enter Costa Rica without a Costa Rican Visa. Five leading IT companies, viz Infosys, Wipro,
Cognizant, TCS, and CSS Corp are operating in San Jose.
Bilateral Trade: Costa Rica is the 5th largest export
destination of India from the Central American region Costa Rica has the best healthcare system in Latin
America after Cuba and this makes it an ideal partner
India has a trade surplus with Costa Rica as it exports for India in promoting each others healthcare system.
USD 147 million and imports hardly USD 64 million.
Costa Rica has adopted environment-friendly technol-
Bilateral trade has fallen from USD 270 million in FY11 ogies and renewable energy and can support in India’s
to USD 210 million in FY22 due to sharp fall in imports growing thrust on electric vehicles.
from Costa Rica
Costa Rica has 5% of the world’s bio-diversity, national
India exports automobiles, auto-components, parks, eco-tourist spots and coastline to promote
chemicals, pharmaceuticals, machineries, rubber and tourism and entertainment industry.
plastic articles, medical devices etc. to Costa Rica
Suggestions to promote economic ties: Indian
India imports wood articles, printed circuits, iron & companies can benefit from tax incentives in Costa
steel scrap, medical devices etc. from Costa Rica. Rica and set up manufacturing plant to cater to the
north and south American markets.
Potential Sectors: Potential sectors for collaboration
are: medical devices, biotechnology, artificial India can also sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to
intelligence, bio medicine, nano-technology, agri boost two-way trade and investment.
products as well as space cooperation.
Costa Rica opened its Embassy in India in 2010; but
Costa Rica is known as the ‘silicon valley’ of Central India does not have an Embassy in that country. India
America due to the presence of IT companies such as can consider setting up a permanent mission in Costa
Cisco, VMWare, DHL Express, Amazon and Intel. Costa Rica as currently our Panama Embassy is accredited to
Rica has a strong manufacturing sector in high-end Costa Rica.
medical devices, IT hardware and software, logistics
and BPOs services. Similarly, Costa Rica can appoint Honorary Consuls in
major Indian cities to strengthen economic ties.
n

Boson Energy oats Hydrogen Group with WTC Mumbai
(From left to right): Ms. Rupa Naik, Executive Director, WTC Mumbai; Mr. Aditya Sharma, Senior Vice President, Boson Energy
and President, Indian Business Chamber of Luxembourg; Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, MVIRDC WTC Mumbai; Mr. Perses
Billimoria, Hon. Consul General, Honorary Consulate of Luxembourg and Lt. Col (R) Monish Ahuja, Chairman, Biomass Energy
Association of India.
G
reen hydrogen has emerged as a promising fuel Punjab Renewable Energy Systems Pvt Ltd. and the
to meet energy security without emitting Consulate of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Mumbai
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. have also partnered to steer the ‘Net Zero Hydrogen
Business organizations and research institutions are Interest Group’, which aims to develop bio-energy value
investing heavily on research and development to chain in India, including skill development for youth.
develop advanced technologies for green hydrogen
solutions to meet our energy needs. Earlier in his welcome address, Dr.
Vijay Kalantri, Chairman,
Luxembourg-based Boson Energy has shown interest to MVIRDC WTC Mumbai pointed
partner with WTC Mumbai in promoting green hydrogen out that green energy and green
in India. In this regard, WTC Mumbai organized an hydrogen are the most promising
interactive meeting on ‘Creating a Hydrogen Eco-system’ solutions for sustainable develop-
to discuss the potential of hydrogen in reducing our ment and he is looking forward to
dependence on fossil fuel that pollute our environment. close cooperation with Boson Energy to take this initiative
forward and promote a green hydrogen ecosystem for
Mr. Jan Grimbrandt, CEO and sustainable development. He further highlighted that
Founder, Boson Energy India has enormous opportunities to convert Agri, Bio
addressed this event virtually. He and other waste to energy, the only thing needed is good
said, “We believe in creating technology.
economic value for urban and
agro waste through thermal Speaking on this occasion, Lt. Col
treatment. We have the technol- (R) Monish Ahuja, Chairman,
ogy to convert 100 tonne of waste into 100 MWh of Biomass Energy Association of
electricity, 100 tonne of fresh water and 70-80 cubic India remarked that the number
meter of high quality construction material, without one risk our society faces today is
carbon emission. We are keen to bring this technology to climate change. He pointed out
India by establishing the ‘Net Zero Hydrogen Interest that around 82% of India’s energy
Group’ in partnership with WTC Mumbai.” mix comprise of non-electricity sources such as petro-
The vision of Boson Energy is to leverage next generation leum and natural gas, for which the country is dependent
technologies to produce hydrogen directly from biomass on imports. He further mentioned that Bio-energy
and waste. The company produces hydrogen, in a carbon produced through bio-waste, can play an important role
negative way, through gasification of waste wood and in reducing our reliance on fossil fuel and thus help us in
urban mixed waste. attaining energy security.

During the event, WTC Mumbai signed a memorandum Indian Business Chamber of Luxembourg and Mr.
of understanding (MoU) with Indian Business Chamber Perses Billimoria, Hon. Consul General, Honorary
of Luxembourg to strengthen trade and economic Consulate of Luxembourg.
cooperation between India and Luxembourg.
The meeting was held on August 19, 2022.
The event was also addressed by Mr. Aditya Sharma,
Senior Vice President, Boson Energy and President, n
Recent trends in India’s Green Hydrogen sector
After solar and wind energy, green hydrogen will be the Electrolysers are the key equipments used to produce
next big revolution in India’s energy sector. green hydrogen by splitting water. India needs to
manufacture electrolysers locally instead of depend-
Green hydrogen can substantially reduce carbon ing on imports to reduce cost of green hydrogen.
emissions from industries such as iron & steel, Government can come out with a PLI scheme to
refining, fertilizers and transportation. The hydrogen encourage local manufacturing of Electrolysers
used in these industries today is derived from natural
gas, which emits carbon dioxide and hence it is called Companies such as OIL India, Indian Oil Corp., NTPC,
grey hydrogen. L&T have started investing on green hydrogen projects
in the country.
From grey hydrogen, we need to move towards green
hydrogen, by producing hydrogen from water or Conglomerates such as Adani and Reliance Industries
biomass, instead of natural gas. have also planned ambitious projects in green
hydrogen.
Policy Push
Green Hydrogen using Biomass
In February 2022, India introduced the Green
Hydrogen policy that waives taxes and surcharge on Apart from water, green hydrogen can also be
electricity used for producing green hydrogen. The produced using solid waste or biomass. India can
policy provides land and other incentives for green improve energy security, water security and waste
hydrogen. management by producing hydrogen from biomass
and waste.
Now, the government is widely expected to release
Green Hydrogen Mission to make this policy more Indian companies can invest in projects to generate
effective. The proposed Mission will make it manda- green hydrogen from municipal waste, agro-waste and
tory for fertilizer and refining companies to use green crop residue. We can convert 100 tonne of waste into
hydrogen, instead of grey hydrogen (which pollutes 100 MWh of electricity, 100 tonne of fresh water and
the environment). 70-80 cubic meter of high quality construction
material, without carbon emission. The electricity
India plans to produce 5 million tons of green hydro- generated through this process can be used for
gen by 2030 and add 175 GW of green hydrogen based running automobiles and supplying to power grid.
energy in 10 years.
Around 82% of India’s energy mix comprise of non-
High cost of green hydrogen electricity sources such as petroleum and natural gas,
for which the country is dependent on imports.
But the cost of generating hydrogen from splitting
water (using renewable energy) is too high. With right Bio-energy, produced through bio-waste, can play an
policy incentives, India can reduce the cost of produc- important role in reducing import of fossil fuel and
ing green hydrogen to USD 1 per kg from more than thus help us in attaining energy security.
USD 5.5 per kg today
n

I am optimistic about growth of WTC brand in India,

says Mr. Scott Wang
(From left to right):

Ms. Rupa Naik,
Executive Director,
WTC Mumbai; Mr.
S c o t t Wa n g , V i c e
President- Asia
Pacific, World Trade
Centers Association,
New York; Dr. Vijay
Kalantri, Chairman,
WTC Mumbai.
M
VIRDC WTC Mumbai hosted a networking business members, especially small and medium
programme for Mr. Scott Wang, Vice enterprises that lack resources to take their business to
President- Asia Pacific, World Trade Centers the global market. WTCs across the world should
Association, New York who was in Mumbai as a part of collaborate with each other to strengthen this global
his official tour to Asia. The event was attended by senior network. We have one World Trade Centers Association
officials from WTC Mumbai, Goa, Jaipur and that brings together more than 300 WTCs based on
Bhubaneswar. common values and goals. In order to make sure that this
global network works for everyone, we need to support
Speaking on this occasion, Mr. each other by exchanging trade delegation, market
Wang remarked, “I am glad to visit intelligence and best practices. To make this network
India after three years. India is more effective, we can periodically release the list of
witnessing remarkable growth active WTCs, in-active WTCs and super-active WTCs. WTC
recovery after the pandemic and Mumbai is our active member that offers excellent
the country will also benefit in service to the local business community.”
attracting foreign direct invest-
ment (FDI) as global supply chain is shifting in the new Delivering welcome remarks at
world order. In this context, I am optimistic about the the session, Dr. Vijay Kalantri,
expansion of WTC brand in India. Already, there are Chairman, MVIRDC World Trade
around 30 WTCs in India and in the coming decade, I see Center Mumbai suggested, “The
more WTCs in the country in response to the growing global network of WTCs can
demand for trade support services.” explore partnership with global
institutions such as USAID, World
Stressing the importance of trade support services and Bank, ITC-Geneva and others for providing technical,
global network, Mr. Wang mentioned, “Brand, Service, financial and capacity building support to local MSMEs.”
Network and Facility are the four pillars of the WTC
ecosystem. While trade facility is the body of any WTC, Dr. Kalantri pointed out that there is huge scope for
trade service is its soul. Network is another pillar that promoting WTC brand in South Asia as trade and
helps WTCs provide unique trade services to their economic development is picking pace in this region

remarkably. He suggested that all member WTCs should coordinate in leading trade delegation, then the overall
actively communicate with each other by sharing market size of the delegation will increase and it will reduce the
intelligence and exchanging trade delegation to serve cost of participation for delegation members.”
their business community better.
Mr. Navneet Agarwal, Assistant
Speaking on this occasion, Ms. Director, World Trade Center
Rupa Naik, Executive Director, Jaipur also echoed similar views
M V I R D C W TC M u m b a i s u g- at the session.
gested, “The Member Advisory
Council in the Asia Pacific Region
may work jointly to support the
start-up enterprise ecosystem in In his remarks, Mr. Anil Velde,
the region. Start-up enterprises can immensely benefit DGM - Trade Promotion, IT and
from business incubation, B2B matchmaking and other Marketing, MVIRDC World Trade
trade support services of WTCs.” Center Mumbai pointed out that
M S M E s i n M a h a ra s h t ra w i l l
Senior functionaries from WTC Bhubaneswar, Jaipur and benefit immensely if WTCs in
Goa shared information about their trade support N o r t h A m e r i c a a n d E u ro p e
activities and how WTCA, New York can leverage its global support them in connecting to the local business
network to promote trade and investment in their community in their respective countries. Mr. Velde also
respective regions. stressed on the need to strengthen the Reciprocity Desk
for exchange of trade leads and market intelligence
Ms. Nimeshika Natarajan, across WTC network.
Assistant Director, World Trade
Center Bhubaneswar suggested The event was also attended by Mr. Firoze B.
that WTCs in the Asia Pacific Andhyarujina, Senior Counsel, Supreme Court of
region may coordinate with each India, senior officials from IDBI Bank and the staff of
other in exchanging trade MVIRDC WTC Mumbai.
delegation for the mutual benefit
of their business members. She remarked, “There are The programme was held on August 25, 2022 at WTC
many small and medium enterprises in Odisha, who Mumbai.
aspire to scale up their business operation by leveraging
the global connection of WTCA. If all the WTC members n
Mr. Scott Wang, Vice President- Asia Pacific, World Trade Centers Association, New York with officials of WTC Mumbai, Goa,
Jaipur and Bhubaneswar.

WTC Mumbai hosts Iran delegation in agro sector

producer of other fruits such as grapes, pears and
apricot. Further Mr. Tajaddini informed that they were
keen to promote agro trade between Urmiah Province
and India, particularly the state of Maharashtra. ‘‘We seek
the support of WTC Mumbai in addressing the trade
barriers and logistics challenges affecting agriculture
trade between the two countries” he expressed.
Earlier in his welcome remarks,

Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman,
MVIRDC WTC Mumbai suggested
(From left to right): Mr. Jafar Nikzad, President of West that Iran and India can contribute
Azerbaijan Union of Agro Products, Iran; Mr. Seyed to the food security of both the
Muhammad Miraei, Trade and Economic Section, Consulate nations by promoting bilateral
General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Mumbai; Dr. Vijay trade in agro products. He said
Kalantri, Chairman, MVIRDC WTC Mumbai and Mr. Benham that India needs to regain the lost growth momentum in
Tajaddini, President of Agriculture and Food Industries export of agro products to Iran by expediting cargo
Commission of Iran. clearance at Chabahar Port, signing preferential trade
agreement with Iran and addressing high shipping cost.
I
ndia and Iran cherish centuries old cultural and trade He further pointed out that today; Iran is the ninth largest
ties. Agriculture is a focus sector in bilateral trade as destination for India’s agro products compared to third
India is the second largest supplier of fruits & nuts, largest destination before the pandemic and our agro
fourth largest supplier of legumes & vegetables and fifth exports to Iran declined from USD 1.3 billion in FY20 to
largest supplier of cereals to Iran. For India, Iran is the USD 960 million by 2021-22.
fifth largest supplier of edible fruits. There is still
untapped trade potential in the agriculture sector Highlighting the potential goods for promoting bilateral
between both countries. trade, Dr. Kalantri mentioned that India is already a major
exporter of basmati and non-basmati rice, fresh fruits,
In order to discuss this untapped trade potential in the juices, nuts, groundnut, pulses and processed food items
agriculture sector, MVIRDC WTC Mumbai in association to Iran. ‘‘Similarly, we can import fresh fruits and vegeta-
with All India Association of Industries and the Consulate bles from Iran to control inflation in these commodities in
General of the Islamic Rep. of Iran organized an interac- the domestic market’’ highlighted Dr. kalantri.
tive meeting for an in-bound trade delegation (on
Agriculture) from Urmiah Province of Iran. The members The event was also addressed by Mr. Jafar Nikzad,
of this trade delegation were food processing companies, President of West Azerbaijan Union of Agro Products,
owners of cold storage facilities and traders of edible Iran and Mr. Seyed Muhammad Miraei, Trade and
fruits in the Urmiah Province of Iran. Mr. Benham Economic Section, Consulate General of the Islamic
Tajaddini, President of Agriculture and Food Republic of Iran in Mumbai.
Industries Commission of Iran led this trade delega-
tion. The meeting ended with a B2B and B2G networking
among the members of the incoming trade delegation
Mr. Tajaddini remarked that the and senior representatives of Agricultural and Processed
U r m i a h P rov i n c e h a s g re a t Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) in
potential in agro business as it Mumbai, members of Fresh Vegetables and Fruits
produces 60% of processed and Exporters Association of India and other representatives
concentrated food products of the from agro product industry in India.
country. This province is the
largest producer of apples, with The interactive meeting was held on August 30, 2022
annual output of 1.5 million tonne. It is also a major at WTC Mumbai.

Connect India 2022 can help India and Philippines explore

USD 3 billion untapped trade potential
“Philippines and India have tion and partnership and exploring new markets.
untapped trade potential worth
USD 3 billion, of which India’s Ms. Naik announced that WTC Mumbai has set a target of
untapped exports is USD 2.5 bringing around 1,000 MSMEs to this digital platform in
billion and Philippines’ untapped the ongoing edition. She also requested World Trade
export to India is USD 650 million. Centres Association, New York to promote this digital
This trade potential exists in platform among WTCs and MSMEs in Europe, North and
sectors such as Healthcare, Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals South America.
and Medical devices, to name a few,” said Ms. Pamela
Pascual, Chairperson and CEO, WTC Metro Manila, Speaking at the webinar, Mr.
Philippines, while speaking at the inaugural session on Scott Wang, Vice President
Connect India 2022 organised virtually by WTC Mumbai. WTCA, Asia-Pacific congratulated
WTC Mumbai for successfully
Connect India 2022 is a flagship programme of WTC hosting Connect India 2022, which
Mumbai providing digital platform for participating according to him has outper-
companies to connect and network globally. She further formed in many parameters. He
suggested Indian companies to collaborate with gave a presentation on the WTCA “Market Access
Philippine companies in Research and Development Programme”, which has match-making events, one-to-
activities and technology transfers. one meetings, seminars, dedicated pavilions and booths
for exhibitors to promote their products and services. He
Announcing WTC Metro Manila’s support for Indian also invited Indian companies to use the WTCA global
companies who are willing to explore opportunities network to expand their business and explore new
offered by the Philippines market, she added, “WTC markets around the globe.
Metro Manila would be keen to play the role of an enabler
for Indian companies by providing them WTC Metro The webinar was also addressed
Manila’s platform, match –making, trade related and by Mr. Akhilesh Mahurkar,
consultancy services.” Director, WTC Shamshabad and
Visakhapatnam who made a
Quoting the historical diplomatic and trade relation presentation on the business
between India and Philippines, Ms. Pascual further opportunities in the state of
added that the pandemic has exposed the deep-rooted Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
vulnerability of supply chains for both countries and it He assured full support to companies looking to invest in
has therefore become increasingly important for India the two states. Mr. Mahurkar informed that within one
and Philippines to co-operate beyond the realm of month, Connect India 2022 programme has received an
economic benefits and work for social welfare for the overwhelming response from more than 30 companies in
people of both countries. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, besides receiving
participation from the Telangana state investment
Earlier in her welcome address, authority “Invest Telangana”. “I am hopeful that more
M s . R u p a N a i k , E xe c u t i v e companies will join and benefit from this Trade Show in
Director, WTC Mumbai high- the coming month,” he added.
lighted the importance of MSMEs
in a country’s economic develop- The webinar was attended by Dr G.D. Singh, Founder &
ment and inclusive growth. She Chairman- Asian-African Chamber of Commerce &
said that Connect India 2022 Industry Foundation along with other members of
would support MSMEs across business fraternity.
regions and industries to develop and foster trade and
investment relations, in developing business collabora- The webinar was held on August 30, 2022.
n

Uganda plans dedicated park for Indian industry
Hon’ble Mr. Oryem Henry Okello (M.P), Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Republic of Uganda (3rd from left) receiving formal
invitation for the proposed India-Africa Conclave from Ms. Rupa Naik, Executive Director, MVIRDC WTC Mumbai (2nd from left).
Also seen in the photograph are: (from left to right) Mr. Madhusudan Agrawal, Hon. Consul General of Uganda in Mumbai, Dr.
Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, MVIRDC WTC Mumbai, Capt. Somesh Batra, Vice Chairman, MVIRDC WTC Mumbai.
T
he East African country of Uganda holds huge destination for Indian businessmen for more than 100
economic potential in sectors such as agro- years. Today, Indians account for 0.65% of Uganda’s
processing, mining, oil & gas, tourism, healthcare, population, but they contribute nearly 70% to the
real estate and other sectors. The Government of Uganda government revenue of Uganda. Government of Uganda
is inviting Indian companies to explore the untapped is considering a proposal to announce a 600-acre Indian
business potential in their country by organizing Afro- Industrial park dedicated to attract more Indian invest-
Indian Investment Summit at Kampala, the capital city of ment in the country. Indian manufacturers can develop
Uganda, on September 29-30, 2022. their plants in this park without the need to bear cost of
land.
In order to create awareness about this Summit, Hon’ble
Mr. Oryem Henry Okello (M.P), Minister of State for Highlighting the investment attractiveness of Uganda,
Foreign Affairs, Republic of Uganda visited India along the Hon’ble Minister informed, “Our government offers
with a delegation of Indian industrialists doing business full safety and guarantee to foreign investors. They have
in that country. WTC Mumbai organized an interactive the freedom to repatriate profit after paying the
meeting for the visiting delegation withholding tax of 6%. India has signed a Double Taxation
Avoidance Agreement with Uganda to prevent dual
Speaking on this occasion, the taxation of investment income in both countries. Foreign
Hon’ble minister remarked, “I investors can make Uganda a gateway to the 300 million
invite Indian investors to come consumer market of the 7-country East African
and experience the attractiveness Community, where companies can trade across borders
of doing business in Uganda, without customs procedures or duties.”
which has been a preferred

Pointing out to the sectoral opportunities for doing The event was also attended by H.E. Ms. Margaret
business in Uganda, the minister remarked, “Agro Kyogire, Acting High Commissioner of the Republic of
processing, mining, oil & gas exploration, refining, power, Uganda in India, Mr. Madhusudan Agrawal, Hon. Consul
healthcare, information & communication technology General of Uganda in Mumbai, other consular officials
and tourism are potential sectors for investment in the and a delegation of Indian industrialists in Uganda.
country.”
Some of the members of the delegation were: Mr Mohan
Earlier in his welcome remarks, Rao, Chairman, Indian Association Uganda, Mr Mohan
Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, Reddy, Secretary General, Indian Business Forum in
MVIRDC WTC Mumbai pointed Uganda and Mr. Muhammad Vaheed, General Secretary,
out, “The Afro-Indian Investment Indian Association Uganda.
Summit is a rare opportunity for
Indian companies to explore trade Capt. Somesh Batra, Vice Chairman, MVIRDC WTC
and investment opportunity in Mumbai proposed vote of thanks for the event.
Uganda and the entire Africa. Bilateral trade volume has
grown from USD 615 million in FY16 to more than USD The meeting was held on September 7, 2022.
840 million last year, largely led by 3-fold growth in
imports from Uganda into India. I expect bilateral trade to n
surpass USD 1 billion mark in two years with the active
participation of Indian business community in Uganda.”
AREAS/SECTORS OF OPPORTUNITY
Source: www.ugandainvest.go.ug

MVIRDC pays rich tribute to Bharat Ratna

Sir Dr. M. Visvesvaraya on his 162nd Birth Anniversary
Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, MVIRDC WTC Mumbai garlanding the mast of Bharat Ratna Sir Dr. M Visvesvaraya at his 162nd
Birth Anniversary. Also seen in the photograph are (from left to right): Mr. Sharad P. Upasani, Vice Chairman, MVIRDC WTC
Mumbai; Mr. Abhijit Das, IDBI Bank; Ms. Rupa Naik, Executive Director, MVIRDC WTC Mumbai.
M
VIRDC World Trade Center Mumbai paid a rich more relevant today when water conservation and
tribute to eminent engineer and statesman, security has assumed heightened policy priority.”
Bharat Ratna Sir Dr. M. Visvesvaraya on the
occasion of his 162nd Birth Anniversary. Sir M. “MVIRDC World Trade Center Mumbai is the living
Visvesvaraya played a significant role in the socio- monument of Sir. M. Visvesvaraya’s vision of a world-
economic development of India through his exemplary class industrial research and trade promotion center in
contribution to irrigation, education, industrialization, the commercial capital of India. This birth anniversary is a
banking & finance and economic planning. great opportunity to propagate the extraordinary service
of Sir M. Visvesvaraya to the society,” Dr. Kalantri added.
Remembering the manifold contribution of Sir.
Visvesvaraya to society and economy, Dr. Vijay Kalantri, On this occasion, senior functionaries of MVIRDC World
Chairman, MVIRDC World Trade Center Mumbai Trade Center Mumbai honoured Sir M. Visvesvaraya by
remarked, “This is a proud moment for India as we garlanding his bust at the entrance of the building.
celebrate 162nd Birth Anniversary of Sir. M. Visvesvaraya.
Government of India has designated this day as Tribute to Bharat Ratna Sir Dr. M. Visvesvaraya was
Engineers Day as a befitting tribute to his outstanding paid on September 15, 2022.
contribution in the field of engineering. His iconic
irrigation and flood protection projects stood the test of n
times. His visionary idea of linking Indian rivers is all the

WTCA organizes 2022 Asia Pacic Regional Meeting
S
enior functionaries from more than 20 World Trade
Centers across Asia Pacific region participated at
the 2022 WTCA Asia Pacific Regional Meeting and
shared their latest initiatives and proposed plan of action
to promote trade and investment in their region/country.
The meeting was addressed by senior officials from WTC
Taipei, WTC Metro Manila, WTC Haikou & Sanya, WTC
Xiamen, WTC Shenyang and other WTCs from the region.
From India, representatives from WTC Mumbai, WTC
Bhubaneswar, WTC Jaipur, WTC Goa, WTC Faridabad and
other WTCs shared key activities and initiatives of their
organizations in recent months.
Speaking at this session, Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman,

MVIRDC WTC Mumbai emphasized the need for all the world, WTC Mumbai’s cutting edge research on market
WTCs to collaborate in promoting trade and investment intelligence, trade agreements and government policy
in agriculture sector through information sharing and offer critical inputs to businesses and policymakers.
exchange of delegation. He mentioned that the Responding to the emerging need for promoting
Agriculture Member Advisory Committee of WTCA is employability, entrepreneurship and exports, WTC
committed to promote its mission of creating a sustain- Mumbai has launched a new Center of Excellence in the
able agriculture sector through innovation and technol- commercial capital of India” explained Ms. Naik.
ogy. ‘‘All the members of this Committee should actively
collaborate in exchange of innovative ideas, market During the event, senior officials from WTC Jaipur, WTC
insights and business leads through newsletters, Vlogs, Bhubaneswar, WTC Goa, WTC Metro Manila and other
virtual seminars and exchange of virtual trade missions” WTCs shared their latest activities and key developments
he said. in their respective regions. Chairs of various Member
Advisory Committees shared the mission and key
In his remarks, Capt. Somesh Batra, Vice Chairman, updates of their Committees to the participating
MVIRDC WTC Mumbai remarked that collaboration and delegates. Member Advisory Committees for Conference
partnerships are essential to add value to the WTC brand. & Exhibition, Real Estate, Agriculture, Trade Services and
WTCs in Asia Pacific region can collaborate with WTC Business Club outlined their recent initiatives during the
Mumbai in trade promotion, trade education and session.
conducting joint research studies. ‘‘WTC Mumbai seeks to
collaborate with other WTCs in the region in skill develop- Earlier in the session, Mr. Robin van Puyenbroeck,
ment and business acceleration services through its Executive Director-Business Development, WTCA and
recently established Center of Excellence” informed Capt. Mr. Scott Wang, Vice President-Asia Pacific, WTCA
Batra. gave an overview about the objective of this session and
how it will benefit the participating delegates.
In her remarks, Ms. Rupa Naik, Executive Director,
WTC Mumbai pointed out that WTC Mumbai remodeled The session ended with a lively moderated panel session,
its trade support initiatives to respond to the ever where participating delegates shared their perspectives
changing market environment and to transform into a on facility as a service, trade show as a service, collabora-
promising gateway for global connections. ‘‘Our new age tion to support service and services to start-up entrepre-
digital platform wetrade.org and our education pro- neurs. The session was moderated by Ms. Khair UII
grams on global market access, risk management and Nissa Executive Director, WTC Noida.
entrepreneurship are tailor-made to support enterprises
in this uncertain market environment. As the importance The webinar was held on September 21, 2022.
of trade information assumes significance in today’s
n

Taiwan keen to strengthen economic ties with India
(From left to right): Ms. Sangeeta Jain, Senior Director, All India Association of Industries (AIAI); Capt. Somesh Batra, Vice
Chairman, WTC Mumbai; Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, WTC Mumbai; Ms. Estela Chen, Executive Director, Economic Division,
Taipei Economic & Cultural Center- India; Mr. Edison Hsu, Director, Taipei World Trade Center, Liaison Office in Mumbai and Ms.
Rupa Naik, Executive Director, WTC Mumbai.
I
ndia and Taiwan witnessed a record high trade value language and cultural barriers are hampering effective
of USD 8.9 billion in 2021-22 because of keen interest communication. Trade support institution like WTC
among business communities from both the sides to Mumbai can help us bridge the language gap.”
explore untapped market potential in each other’s
country. In order to maintain this growth momentum, Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman,
WTC Mumbai organised an interactive meeting with Ms. MVIRDC WTC Mumbai assured all
Estela Chen, Executive Director, Economic Division, possible support in facilitating
Taipei Economic & Cultural Center- India. trade and investment relations
between both countries. He
Speaking on this occasion, Ms. remarked, “India and Taiwan
Chen remarked, “I am optimistic share common values of democ-
about the outlook for India-Taiwan racy and rule of law. To address language and cultural
economic relation. The recent barriers, we need to set up language training institutes.
investment by Taiwanese compa- Both the countries can collaborate in joint manufacturing
nies in India is just the beginning of semiconductors, electronic white goods, personal
for bilateral trade and investment computers, laptops etc. Taiwan can help India diversify its
flows. As supply chain between India and Taiwan gets source of imports to make its supply chain resilient. Both
robust, more and more Taiwanese companies would be the countries can have a scheduled investment plan by
eager to setup their manufacturing plants in India.” initially focusing on 10 sectors to gradually scale up two-
way commercial relations.”
Ms. Chen highlighted language and cultural barrier as the
biggest challenges for India-Taiwan trade and investment Currently, Taiwan is the 32nd largest trade partner of
relationship. She remarked, “In recent years, we have India with a two-way trade of USD 8.9 billion as of 2021-
seen several partnerships between Taiwanese compa- 22. Taiwan exports USD 6.2 billion worth of goods to
nies and Indian start-ups in different technological India, while it imports USD 2.7 billion worth goods from
sectors like semi-conductors and aerospace. However, India.

Capt. Somesh Batra, Vice M s . R u p a N a i k , E xe c u t i v e

Chairman, MVIRDC WTC Director, MVIRDC WTC Mumbai
Mumbai suggested that WTC proposed the vote of thanks for
Mumbai can facilitate a trade the event. Ms. Naik recommended
delegation from India to Taiwan to that India and Taiwan can work
ex p l o re u n t a p p e d b u s i n e s s together to jointly organise trade
potential between both the shows and exhibitions to promote
countries. He also invited Taiwanese companies to local brands in each other’s market.
participate in the flagship program of WTC Mumbai,
Connect India International Trade Show 2022. The meeting was held at WTC Mumbai on September
28, 2022.
The event was attended by Mr. Edison Hsu, Director,
Taipei World Trade Center, Liaison Office in Mumbai n
and other officials from the Liaison Office.
India-Taiwan Economic Relations
Ÿ Taiwan is the fifth largest trade partner of India in the North East Asia and the country holds immense potential for
strengthening bilateral relations.
Ÿ Specifically, Indian industries can benefit from exchange of technical knowhow, partnership in skill development
and joint research projects.
Ÿ Government of Taiwan introduced the ambitious New Model for Economic Development in May 2016. This model
seeks to promote economic growth through innovation, employment and ensuring the equitable distribution of
economic benefits.
Ÿ Taiwan, through its South bound policy, aspires to enhance its relations with India, besides other South and South
East Asian countries.
Ÿ India’s engagement with Taiwan has grown since the days of its economic reforms in early 1990s.
Ÿ Bilateral economic relations got a fillip with the decision of both the countries to set up representative offices in
each others country in 1995.
Ÿ India-Taipei Association in Taipei is India’s representative office in Taiwan, while Taipei Economic and Cultural
Center (TECC) in India is Taiwan’s representative office in India.
Ÿ Given its well developed electronics and communication sector, Taiwan has expressed interest to partner with
India in the latter’s Digital India and Smart City initiative.
Ÿ India has attracted around USD 238 million worth investments from Taiwan since the year 2000. More than 100
Taiwanese companies have commercial presence in India. However, this pales in comparison to the fact that more
than 80,000 Taiwanese companies have a presence in China or 25,000 Taiwanese companies have operations in
Southeast Asian countries.
Ÿ Taiwanese companies have invested in sectors such as auto components, chemicals, engineering, financial
services, information and communication technology.
Ÿ In August 2021, WTC Mumbai made a presentation on potential Indian market opportunity for around 11
Taiwanese companies manufacturing a range of goods, viz. industrial sewing machines, injection moulding
machines, power supply equipments, baby strollers, IoT Smart Care products, induction cookers, Tortilla Maker,
Hand tools etc.

Da Nang seeks Indian investment in Hi-Tech Park
Mr. Tran Phuoc Son, Vice Chairman, Da Nang People's Committee, Vietnam (2nd from right) felicitating Dr. Vijay Kalantri,
Chairman, WTC Mumbai. Also seen in the photograph are (From left to right): Mr. Ajoykaant Ruia, Vice Chairman, WTC Mumbai;
Mr. Hoang Tung, Consul General, Consulate General of Vietnam in Mumbai and Capt. Somesh Batra, Vice Chairman, WTC
Mumbai.
I
ndia and Vietnam are celebrating 50 years of diplo- five focus sectors, viz. i) Tourism, ii) Sea Port & Airport, iii)
matic relations in 2022. Over these five decades, Hi-Tech Manufacturing, iv) IT & Digital Economy and v)
bilateral relation has grown tremendously in areas Fisheries,”.
such as economy, tourism and cultural exchange. Da In order to promote tourism and business ties,
Nang city in Vietnam holds tremendous potential for Vietnamese airline Vietjet will soon launch direct flight
bilateral trade and investment with India as the city is services connecting five Indian cities, viz. New Delhi,
emerging as an economic growth center in the country. Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru with
Da Nang.
In order to explore untapped trade, investment and
tourism potential with India, a high level delegation from Mr. Son invited Indian companies to invest in the Da Nang
Da Nang City visited India recently. World Trade Center Hi-Tech Park, which has state-of-the art logistics, incuba-
Mumbai organized an interactive meeting with the tion, IT & telecom infrastructure. This park seeks invest-
delegation that was led by Mr. Tran Phuoc Son, Vice ment in six priority sectors, viz. micro-electronics, IT,
Chairman, Da Nang People's Committee, Vietnam. automation & precision technology, new energy, nano
The other members of the delegation were senior technology and petrochemicals. Mr. Son also invited
officials from Department of Information and Indian companies to explore investment opportunity in
Communication, Department of Industry and Trade, the 341 hectare IT park, which is adjacent to the Da Nang
Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Hi-Tech Park.
Tourism in Da Nang city.
Earlier in his welcome remarks,
In his opening remarks, Mr. Son Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman,
informed, “Our vision is to MVIRDC WTC Mumbai raised
transform Da Nang city into an hope that the current level of
economic, IT, innovation and Hi- bilateral trade value of USD 14.4
Tech Center of Vietnam and Asia. billion between India and Vietnam
We invite Indian investment from can be doubled in the coming

years through focused trade promotion efforts. He Mr. Duong Duc Anh, Vice Consul, DCM, Consulate
pointed out, “WTC Bhubaneswar recently led a 20- General of Vietnam in Mumbai and representatives
member delegation to Vietnam to strengthen bilateral from tourism, hospitality, agro-processing, pharma,
commerce. A few months ago, we have also signed MoU healthcare and other industries in India.
with Invest Global, which is a Vietnam-based trade,
tourism and investment promotion agency.” Capt. Somesh Batra, Vice Chairman, MVIRDC WTC
Mumbai proposed the vote of thanks for the event.
During the event, officials from the Vietnam delegation
made a presentation about how Da Nang can be an ideal The programme was held at WTC Mumbai on
tourist destination for weddings, honeymoon and leisure September 28, 2022.
travelers.
n
The event was attended by Mr. Hoang Tung, Consul
General, Consulate General of Vietnam in Mumbai;
India-Vietnam Relations
This year, India and Vietnam celebrate 50 years of diplomatic ties
Our relation has grown from strength to strength in these five decades
Post pandemic, India-Vietnam trade and investments are growing in leaps and bounds
Trade and Investment Potential
Already, Indian firms are implementing more than 313 projects in Vietnam with a total investment of USD 1 billion.
India is the 25thlargest investor in Vietnam
EXIM Bank of India, Bank of India and other Indian banks are actively supporting Indian investments in Vietnam
Indian companies have invested in Vietnam in energy, mineral exploration, agro-processing, sugar, tea, coffee
manufacturing, agro-chemicals, IT and auto components.
Vietnam has invested in six projects in India with a total estimated investment of USD 28.55 million, in pharma, IT,
chemicals and building materials.
Trade
Both sides can utilise duty-free benefits under India-ASEAN trade agreement
India is among top 8 trade partners of Vietnam
Vietnam is the 4th largest trade partner of India in ASEAN and 23rd largest in the world.
In 2021, bilateral trade between India and Vietnam reached USD 14.4 billion for the first time, of which, India exportd
USD 6.70 billion and imported USD 7.44 billion worth of goods from Vietnam

Both the countries set a target of USD 15 billion trade in 2022.
Top exports and imports
India exports iron & steel, buffalo meat, marine products, aluminium products, auto-components & rice to Vietnam
Vietnam exports telecom instruments, consumer electronics, copper products, computer hardware, inorganic
chemicals to India
Other sectors
Maritime transport and shipbuilding are potential sectors due to the long coastline
Pharmaceutical is another focus sector as India is the pharmacy of the world and Vietnam can supply key chemical
ingredients used in pharma production
Electronics is another high potential sector for collaboration
Already, Vietnam is the 5thlargest supplier of electrical and electronic goods to India
Vietnam has FTAs with EU and UK, besides RCEP. So, it can serve as India’s gateway to these regions.
Tourism potential of Da Nang city
Da Nang, known as city of modern architecture, is an international tourist attraction
The city has many UNESCO World Heritage sites, the Golden Bridge, Dragon Bridge and the ancient town of Hoi An.
This coastal city is strategically located at the centre of Vietnam, on the North-South transport axis of land, rail, sea and
air routes
It is an important node in the East-West Economic Corridor, a gateway to Pacific Ocean of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar
Da Nang is set to become ASEAN logistics center and is an upcoming smart city
Number of Indians applying for visas to Vietnam grew 24 times from 250 visas per day pre COVID-19 to 6000 visas per
day.
Vietnamese airline Vietjet plans to connect five Indian cities, viz. New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and
Bengaluru with Da Nang by the end of 2022.
Currently, Vietjet operates services connecting Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi with Mumbai and Delhi

WTC Bhubaneswar Viewpoint ON TRADE
Government needs to address administrative bottlenecks and

facilitate credit to exporters
In an interview to ON TRADE, Mr. Rajen Padhi, Commercial
Director - B One Business House Pvt. Ltd. and Director, EXIM
Consultancy, shares his views on logistics infrastructure in Odisha, the
challenges faced by exporters in India as well as in the state of Odisha and
actionable policy suggestions to address these challenges.
Logistics is a key for exports to tremendous boost for export cargo.

progress. How do you evaluate
Odisha on the logistics param- Can you please throw some
eter appropriate for exports? light on RBI’s recent guidelines
on settlement of International
I personally feel that Odisha has a Trade in rupee?
long way to go in developing a robust
infrastructure for logistics. The For more than 70 years, since 1944
state’s major ports Paradeep and perhaps, USD has been accepted as
Dhamra, Gopalpur are predomi- base currency for International
Excerpts of the interview:
nantly bulk cargo handlers designed trade. Considering the changing
f o r m i n e ra l s . A l t h o u g h , P I C T headwinds of International Trade
Odisha is well known for its
(Paradeep International Container and to protect the value of the Indian
natural resources. How do you rupee, it is imperative to reduce our
Terminal) seems like a positive
look at its export potential development in the last 4-5 years for dependence on US Dollar for settling
other than minerals & metal- containerised cargo, data suggests our foreign trade transactions.
lurgy sector? that it basically caters to coastal Particularly, in crude oil, which
shipping and the export cargo is constitutes 60% of the import
Indeed! Odisha is endowed with rich limited. Also, the Biju Express basket. Iraq, Iran, Russia and UAE,
deposits of mineral resources and Highway is a boon for Western which are the major suppliers of
has multiple sectors which hold Odisha where most aluminum crude oil, if they can accept INR as
tremendous export potential. With a manufactures are located. Road payment terms, our demand for
coastline of 485 kms and the Chilika transport has become faster, USD comes down substantially. High
lake of 1100 sq kms, it’s a veritable competitive and cost effective. From import cost would have an inflation-
store house of Fish and Fishery my perspective, the express highway ary effect on logistics which India
products. Revenue from marine near Kalinga Nagar (hub of Iron and cannot afford. On the exchange
products touched Rs 4300 crore last Steel manufacturing) should be rate, thanks to government policies,
year. The other sector that is developed well to handle the load the Indian rupee has done much
consistently growing in Odisha is IT when the anticipated production better than developed currencies
and ITeS. An electronic park can be a fructifies. Also, The National like Euro, Yen, GBP etc.
major hub for semi conductor Waterway project should be
manufacturing and exports. Apart completed at the earliest. The What is your view on the
from this, sectors that have a high Khurdha Boalngir rail link is very vital future prospect of Odisha’s
export potential are Food Processing as it reduces travel time and distance exports?
- which includes spices, millets, by 50% or more. A Dedicated Freight
jackfruit, turmeric, arrow root, red corridor running between According to me, following are the
chillies, etc. and also Handicrafts and Kharagpur to Vijayawada junction ways to enhance take Odisha’s
Handlooms sector. running all along the Industrial exports: i) Remove administrative
corridors of Odisha and AP will be a bottlenecks, ii) Make effective

WTC Bhubaneswar Viewpoint ON TRADE
clusters for MSMEs, iii) Access to (Technical Barriers to Trade - TBT the disruption in global supply
bank finance should be simpler, iv) agreement) under WTO. Talking chains and the shipping services,
Banks should adopt pragmatic about the two major export destina- price of commodities started rising.
sanctions up to 50 lakhs, depending tions of Indian Seafood, Anti Currently, high fuel and energy
upon project viability, v) Traditional Dumping Duty by USA continues prices across Europe and USA have
considerations is a big constraint, vi) even after four sunset reviews. resulted in high inflation. The
CGTMSE by Government should act Similarly, zero covid policy in China average consumer demand has
as a catalyst for Bankers to extend hampered our exports to China. declined, which has adversely
loan, vii) Include International Trade Finally, seafood export figure of USD affected imports into these
as a subject in regular academic 7.76 billion was almost 98% of the countries.
curriculum and help young entre- given target and this year the target
preneurs understand the nuances is USD 8.6 billion. What are the few crucial
and rich dividends of exports from aspects one should consider
institutional levels. With the growing number of before starting an export
Start-ups in the country, how business? Please share your
Please share your insights on the start-up ecosystem can insights.
the current export scenario of help with the export frame-
the country. work and enable India to I) Political stability and legal frame-
become the powerhouse of work of the target export destination
I completely endorse the initiatives ii) Strengths of exporters in the
Global Economy?
t a ke n by t h e G ov e r n m e n t t o competing countries, iii) Economic
stimulate India’s exports. There may stability and credibility of banks and
From personal observations, I can
be a few expectation gaps, yet I other trade finance institutions, iv)
say that at least 65% of the Start ups
believe that the process has begun Tariff and non-tariff measures,
are based on IT and ITeS sectors.
to provide a major thrust to our including quality control standards
Services such as IT and ITeS have
exports. I am positive that Atma of importing country including SPS
been flourishing ever since the onset
Nirbhar Bharat scheme would soon and v) Product knowledge
of the pandemic, and in the first six
yield results and all facets of
months, it has shown a tremendous
industry, trade and commerce stand Do you feel India’s export
growth of about 24.3%. Start ups in
to be benefit. The forward linkage potential can be unleashed
Bio Technology can contribute to
and integration to global market
export baskets, with target markets through digital-led (e-
would certainly raise India’s export
being under-developed nations like commerce) growth? How can
figures. The USD480 billion
in the African region. As solar power- MSMEs benefit from it?
merchandise export target no longer
driven small pack houses in interiors
seems a pipe dream as it is emi-
and remote places are making raves, The current e-commerce volume in
nently achievable given the favour-
solar energy-based products also India is about USD 46 billion and it is
a b l e p o l i c y e n v i ro n m e n t a n d
hold a big export potential. likely to touch USD 188 by 2025,
growing competitiveness of Indian
exporters in the world market. while the global e-commerce is likely
Strategically in this crucial time, UAE,
Do you see inflation as a to reach USD 9.09 Trillion. The Digital
Russia, China and ASEAN can be matter of concern in the revolution is a life-time opportunity
potential trading partners. export scenario across the for MSMEs as marketing their
globe? products is now as easy as a click of a
mouse in the comfort of home. This
What are the challenges that
I certainly do! As we all know that the truly is a revolution and with 5G
undermine India’s export
pandemic hit the economy tremen- round the corner, sky is the limit for
growth in sea food sector? e-commerce.
d o u s l y f o l l ow e d by I n fl a t i o n .
The ever improving export trajectory Livelihood of the average working
n
is encouraging. However, non tariff class was disrupted and they began
barriers are a matter of concern saving rather than spending. With

WTC Bhubaneswar Events ON TRADE
Capacity Building Program-with a focus on the Engineering sector
(From left to right): Mr. Kaushik Mitra, Senior Manager (BM), ECGC Limited, Bhubaneswar; Mr. Vishram Patel, Vice President
(MSME), Balasore Chamber of Industries & Commerce; Mr. Sanjay Kumar Das, President, Balasore Chamber of Industries &
Commerce and Mr. Kousik Bhattacherjee, Assistant Director, EEPC India.
T
o serve as a knowledge sharing platform for addition to that, he also spoke various things like the
exporters and MSMEs for boosting the state’s transformation of the Engineering Export Basket, gradual
export scenario and also to handhold MSMEs to shift towards capital goods and heavy machinery,
manufacture export quality engineering goods World diversification in export destination, top export
Trade Center Bhubaneswar in association with destinations for India, major drawbacks and loopholes in
Engineering Exports Promotion Council (EEPC India) and engineering exports etc. Mr. Bhattacharjee also
Balasore Chamber of Industries & Commerce (BCIC) emphasised on keeping a few things in mind before
organized a ‘Capacity Building Program on Basics of ‘How starting exports, like basic information and knowledge
to Export and Business Opportunities in INDEE about exports, supporting agencies, financial institu-
Tanzania 2022 Road Show’ focusing on the Engineering tions, selection of company name, basic legal registra-
Exports from the state of Odisha. tion, brand identity/logo/website design, social network-
ing platforms etc. Further, he spoke about the launch of a
Mr. Kousik Bhattacharjee, new DGFT Platform, RCMC Certification, benefits for the
Assistant Director, EEPC India members of EEPC, ICEGATE Login, product selection for
made a presentation on business exports, international classification of products, key
opportunities at the INDEE factors for selection of export markets, tools to find
Tanzania Road Show as well as foreign buyers and export potential products for India-
basics of how to export. He East Africa trade.
deliberated on how EEPC as a trade
and investment promotion body has been catering to the M r . K a u s h i k M i t ra , S e n i o r
Indian Engineering Sector. He highlighted the salient Manager (BM), ECGC Ltd.,
features of the Indian Engineering Sector, category of Bhubaneswar during his address
goods having export potential and the stellar perfor- gave an overview of ECGC and its
mance of the sector in the financial year 2021-22. In present scenario and

functionalities, methods of payment in International handhold MSMEs and promote international trade in the
Trade, Inco terms, risks in export transaction and role of state.
ECGC along with its services. He also deliberated on short
term covers facilitated by ECGC, political and commercial Mr. Sanjay Kumar Das,
risks covered and its service network. President, Balasore Chamber of
Industries and Commerce (BCIC)
Earlier in the session, Mr. Pawan during his address emphasized to
Sureka, Convenor, EEPC India accelerate the export scenario of
(Cuttack), Odisha Chapter the state and the role of BCIC in
delivered the welcome address handholding the regional industry
and highlighted various initiatives bodies. He also extended support to further collaborate
undertaken by EEPC India to with EPCs and trade promotion bodies to help businesses
handhold exporters and support grow. Further, he proposed the vote of thanks.
them to strengthen operations in the international
market. The programme was held on July 8, 2022 at Balasore
Chamber of Industries and Commerce (BCIC).
Ms. Nimeshika Natarajan, Assistant Director, World
Trade Center Bhubaneswar in her address highlighted n
on various initiatives being undertaken by the center to
Entrepreneurship Awareness Session:

Focus on – Alternate Source of Equity funding through
IPO & Listing on Emerge Platform
E
ntrepreneurship in general is the ability to In addition to that, other necessary facilitation initiatives
effectively learn, strategize, focus, communicate, were discussed to assist the MSMEs/Start-ups to avail
market, sell and upgrade. Alternate Source of various schemes, learn about financial avenues and
Equity Funding comprises of Initial Public Offering (IPO), manage their enterprise.
Small Business Investment Companies, Angel Investors
for Equity Financing, Mezzanine Financing, Venture Mr. Prosenjit Pal, Senior Manager-Business
Capital and Royalty Financing. IPO is announced by a Development-Eastern Region, National Stock
company not listed in the stock exchange to raise funds Exchange (NSE) made a presenta-
through sale of securities or shares for the first time to tion on NSE & its Emerge Platform,
public in the primary market. In this regard, World Trade SEBI Eligibility as well as NSE
Center Bhubaneswar organized an Entrepreneurship Eligibility criterias required for a
Awareness Session, focusing on Alternate Source of company to enlist on the Emerge
Equity Funding through IPO & listing on Emerge Platform Platform. He further spoke about
in association with National Stock Exchange (NSE), the Regulatory Framework like IPO
Association of Industrial Entrepreneurs of Bhubaneswar on Emerge, post listing compli-
(AIEBA), State Bank of India, Bhubaneswar and Utkal ance, migration and investors. In addition, Mr. Pal
Chamber of Commerce & Industry Limited. deliberated on the steps to register on the Emerge
platform, its benefits, value proposition for Issuers, value
The session was a knowledge sharing platform where proposition for Intermediaries, NSE initiatives like
NSE deliberated on its Emerge listing platform for Awareness Sessions as well as Tie-up for Strategic
growing companies to raise Equity capital through IPO & Developments. Additionally Mr. Pal also gave an intro-
Listing of equity share. duction to NIFTY SME Emerge Index.

(From left to right): Mr. Prosenjit Pal, Senior Manager-Business Development-Eastern Region, National Stock Exchange (NSE);
Mrs. Nimeshika Natarajan, Assistant Director, World Trade Center Bhubaneswar; Mr. Bijaya Kumar Mohanty, Assistant General
Manager (SME), State Bank of India, Bhubaneswar; Mr. Ashok Kumar Sharda, President – In Charge, UCCIL; Mr. Ali Kishore
Patnaik, President, AIEBA and Mr. Rajan Jha, Senior Vice President, Merchant Banking, Hem Securities Ltd.
Mr. Rajan Jha, Senior Vice Proponents for Enhancement of Ethanol Capacity for
President, Merchant Banking, producing 1st Generation Ethanol from Feed Stocks.
Hem Securities Ltd. Made a
presentation on Equity Funding Earlier in the session, Mr. Ali
through IPO for the MSMEs. He Kishore Patnaik, President,
further spoke about how SMEs AIEBA and Mr. Ashok Kumar
have emerged as the critical Sharda, President – In Charge,
component of the economy with a significant contribu- UCCIL during their special address
tion to the economic development of the nation. Mr. Jha spoke about their associations and
also spoke about modern trading technologies and initiatives undertaken under them
various services offered by Hem Securities. to develop entrepreneurship and support MSMEs in their
entrepreneurial journey.
Mr. Bijaya Kumar Mohanty,
Assistant General Manager Mrs. Nimeshika Natarajan, Assistant Director, World
(SME), State Bank of India made a Trade Center Bhubaneswar proposed the vote of
detailed presentation on Asset thanks.
Backed Loan, Lease Rental
Discounting (LRD) Scheme, The programme was held on July 22, 2022 at Utkal
Electronic Dealer Finance Chamber of Commerce & Industry Limited (UCCIL),
Schemes, Electronic Vendor Finance Schemes, Surya Bhubaneswar.
Shakti Solar Finance, SBI Start-ups Funding etc. He
further explicated on Financial Assistance to Project n
World Trade Day & Annual Members Meet 2022
O
bserved for the fifth consecutive year in the discussion on the theme ‘International Trade & Exports
State of Odisha with a view to create awareness – A view of Odisha's Growth Trajectory’. Senior
on International Trade and its impact on the government officials and eminent experts from the
economic development as well as regional growth of the industry were present on the occasion to share their
State, World Trade Centre Bhubaneswar organised the views. World Trade Day coincided with World Trade Week
‘World Trade Day’. This programme was marked by a organized by World Trade Centers across the world.

(From left to right): Mr. Rajen Padhi, Convener, WTC Bhubaneswar International Trade Promotion Think Tank; Mr. Santosh
Sarangi, IAS, Directorate General of Foreign Trade, New Delhi, Govt. of India; Mr. Rohit Pujari, Hon’ble Minister of State, (Ind.
Charge), Higher Education Department, Govt. of Odisha; Mr. Pratap Keshari Deb, Hon’ble Cabinet Minister, Department of
Industries, MSME & Energy, Govt. of Odisha; Dr. Madan Mohan Sethi, IFS, Consul General of India, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and
Dr. Rina Routray, Advisor, WTC Bhubaneswar Women Forum during the virtual address of Shri. Sujeet Kumar, Hon’ble Member
of Parliament, Rajya Sabha.
World Trade Day celebration placed a unique platform assistance in building a roadmap & policy making. He
for the entrepreneurs of the State of Odisha to learn and further added that there has been a shift in the mindset in
discuss key issues pertaining to global business. It also terms of export and quality control, and that marketing
gave due recognition to business leadership, achieve- assistance should be provided in this case to compete
ments and best practices. The program through its with other states.
networking sessions helped MSMEs of the State to
explore export opportunities with other countries Mr. Rohit Pujari, Hon’ble
encouraging them to participate in International Trade. Minister of State, (Ind. Charge),
Higher Education Department,
The program kicked of with a presentation on the Govt. of Odisha highlighted how
activities and initiatives taken by World Trade Center Odisha has the suitable environ-
Bhubaneswar to help businesses/entities from the state ment & ecosystem for entrepre-
to foray into the global market across sectors followed by neurship. ‘‘Industry and Higher
lighting of the lamp. Education go hand in hand and the youth has to be
facilitated to be job ready through collaborative mea-
Mr. Pratap Keshari Deb, Hon’ble sures’’ he added.
Cabinet Minister, Department of
Industries, MSME & Energy, Govt. Mr. Sujeet Kumar, Hon’ble
of Odisha during his address Member of Parliament, Rajya
deliberated on the sincere and Sabha joined the session virtually
proactive measures needed to be and during his address lauded the
undertaken to elevate the eco- center for its contribution in
nomic scenario of the state, and further extended leveraging the export scenario of

the state. These efforts made by WTC Bhubaneswar in Tank delivered the welcome
building an effective platform for the exporters and address and deliberated on the
potential exporters ultimately helped them to explore recent announcement by RBI
and penetrate into the global markets. He also spoke (Reserve Bank of India) to settle
about the potential of the state in various sectors and Foreign Trade in rupees. She
urged to collectively contribute in accelerating Odisha’s mentioned that the center
trade which would make it the export hub of the country. designated and announced
Honorary Convenorship and Co-Convenorship to the
Mr. Santosh Sarangi, IAS, industry representatives & stakeholders among the
Directorate General of Foreign member base for its six verticals like IT & Startups, Smart
Trade, New Delhi, Govt. of India City & Infrastructure, Agriculture & Food Processing,
lauded WTC Bhubaneswar for Tourism & Hospitality, International Trade Promotion and
providing a platform with interna- Women Forum. ‘‘The idea has been to seek guidance
tional linkages for entrepreneurs from the industry experts which shall help the center in
a n d p o t e n t i a l ex p o r t e r s . H e advancing & promoting each sector not just in the state
highlighted how India has performed phenomenally in but also globally’’ she highlighted. The Convenors of the
terms of Global trade in spite of the pandemic. He further Center deliberated on the upcoming plans & future
shared his insights on how certain factors/elements work course of action.
collectively in the entire supply chain to reap the maxi-
mum benefits. Mr. Sarangi also emphasized on the need In addition, Mr. Aditya Dash, Managing Director/CEO,
for diversification of tertiary sectors and value-added Ram’s Assorted Cold Storage (MSME Export
products to scale up exports from the state of Odisha. He Achievement); Ms. Priyadarshini Das, Founder,
also assured infrastructure and logistics related issues to Ecodarsini (Best Innovative Startup); Mr. K.K. Singh,
be addressed by the DGFT, Govt. of India. MD, Surya International Private Limited (Small
Business Global Trade); Ms. Panchami Manoo Ukil,
Dr. Madan Mohan Sethi, IFS, Founder Trustee, The DN Wisdom Tree Global School
Consul General of India, Ho Chi (Special Recognition – Education Sector); Mr. Rajen
Minh City, Vietnam during his Padhi, Commercial Director, B—One Business House
address highlighted the trade (Growth and Promotion of Trade) and Dr. Rina Routray,
opportunities to foster bilateral Chairperson, Mahila Atmanirbhar Abhiyan (Special
between India and Vietnam while Recognition – Social Sector) were awarded and felicitated
focusing on the state of Odisha. He for their tremendous efforts and achievements in the
also deliberated on the emerging trends of trade and respective sectors.
businesses in Vietnam while emphasizing on the
unexplored resources possessed by Odisha in terms of M s . N i m e s h i k a N a t a ra j a n ,
natural resources, art & craft, textile, skilled manpower Assistant Director, World Trade
etc. Center Bhubaneswar proposed
the vote of thanks.
Dr. Rina Routray, Advisor, WTC
Bhubaneswar Women Forum
during her address spoke about
various initiatives and activities
WTC Bhubaneswar undertakes to The programme was held on July 31, 2022 at Welcome
facilitate and handhold MSMEs. hotel by ITC Hotels, Bhubaneswar.
WTC Bhubaneswar has been
working effectively to uplift entrepreneurship from the n
grassroot level and its focus has been to work locally for
global outreach, she added.
Earlier in the session, Mr. Rajen Padhi, Convener, WTC

Bhubaneswar International Trade Promotion Think

Market Outreach Initiative for Women Entrepreneurs

organized a Market Outreach Program to showcase their
unique products/services for better visibility and to
develop a strong brand value by reaching out to the
potential customers, generate sales lead and assist in
effective product development. The initiative acted as a
cost-effective method for the business members to
upsell their products, enhance and improvise customer
service, empower business collaborations and also
helped in understanding the market demand and
strengthen credibility of the brand.
Some of the products showcased were Handloom,

Handicrafts, Handmade Chocolates, Essential Oils, Home
Furnishings & Décor, Processed Food, Terracotta,
Sustainable Jewellery etc.
W
omen owned businesses or enterprises play a
The program was inaugurated by Shri. Priyaranjan,
significant role in the country, bringing in
Deputy General Manager, Estate Department, RBI
significant demographic shifts and inspire
Bhubaneswar.
other women to take up entrepreneurship. Women as
entrepreneurs add significantly to the business and
The programme was held on August 6 & 7, 2022 at the
economic growth of the country.
Convention Hall, RBI Colony, Bhubaneswar.
As a business promotion initiative for Women
n
Entrepreneurs, World Trade Center Bhubaneswar
Awareness Session on Food Processing Sector
I
ndia comprises one of the largest food processing constructive interaction among the industry experts,
sectors in the world which has a classic role in linking academic experts and bankers on the subject, helping
farmers to consumers in domestic as well as interna- identify more areas and explore various
tional markets. A strong and dynamic food processing schemes/financial avenues, licensing norms and
sector plays a pivotal role in preventing wastage of assistance available.
perishable agricultural produce, ensuring value addition
to agricultural produce and diversification & commercial- Dr. Subrat Biswal, Regional
ization of agriculture. Head, Eastern Region,
Entrepreneurship Development
In this context, World Trade Center Bhubaneswar Institute of India (EDII),
organized an awareness session on the Food Processing Bhubaneswar made a detailed
Sector in association with Yes Bank Foundation, presentation on the role of EDII
Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII)- and how it acts as a nodal agency
Bhubaneswar, MSME-DFO-Cuttack, The National Small for the SFURTI Scheme. He then spoke about EDII’s
Scale Industries Corporation Ltd. (NSIC)-Bhubaneswar, Institutional Network, their associate & corporate
State Bank of India-Bhubaneswar, Juggernaut partners and snapshot of entrepreneurship growth in
Association of Entrepreneurs (JAE) and Wow Mom Foods. India. He further deliberated on funds for regeneration of
The session was a knowledge sharing platform for traditional industries (SFURTI) clusters, interventions in
clusters, major CDP Schemes, Major stakeholders in

SFRTI Scheme, role of technical agency, project imple- Mr. Bibhudatta Tripathy, Food
mentation etc. Safety Officer, Government of
Odisha delivered a precise
Mr. Subas Sahu, Assistant presentation on Food Licensing
Director, MSME-DFO, Cuttack, norms. He demonstrated on the
Ministry, of Micro, Small & FSSAI, functions in belief,
Medium Enterprises, Centralized Food Safety
Government of India spoke on Compliance Regulatory Platform, standardized food
Udyam Registration, Khadi & products and business eligibility criteria, FSSR 2011,
Village Industries Commission, Schedule III of FSS ACT 2006, Schedule IV of FSS act 2006
National Small Industries Corporation, National Institute and Food Safety and Standards (Licensing & Registration
for MSME, The Coir Board, Mahatma Gandhi Institute for of Food Businesses) Regulation 2011. He further spoke
Rural Industrialization (MGIRI), brief activities of MSME- about the authorities responsible for licensing and
DIs, Major Schemes of Ministry of MSME, Financing for registration.
MSMEs, Prime Minister’s Employment Generation
Program etc. He further spoke about the Credit Mr. Sidharth Rath, Branch Head,
Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises SME, State Bank of India,
(CGTMSE), other credit schemes like Standup India & Bhubaneswar in his address
MUDRA Scheme, major current schemes of Ministry of i l l u s t ra t e d v a r i o u s fi n a n c i a l
MSME like Up-Scaled Entrepreneurship and Skill assistance offered by SBI to be
Development Programme, Procurement & Marketing availed by the entrepreneurs.
Support Scheme, International Co-operation Scheme,
SFURTI, MSME Innovative Scheme and My MSME Portal. Earlier in the session, Ms. Shyama
In addition to that, he highlighted the MSME Sustainable Jha, Founder, Millet Magic
(ZED) Certification Components, ZED Certification levels, Foundation delivered the opening
it’s parameters, role of various agencies, MSME Kawach, remarks and shared her entrepre-
Public Procurement Policy 2012, GeM, Startup India Seed neurial journey.
Fund Scheme (DPIIT), Odisha Startup Policy 2016, Odisha
Industrial Policy Resolution 2015, Odisha MSME Policy
2016, Odisha Food Processing Policy 2016 and steps to Mr. Nandiki Gangadhar Reddy,
set up an enterprise. Vice President, Juggernaut
Association of Entrepreneurs
Dr. Anupam Gayen, Branch proposed the vote of thanks.
Head, National Small Scale
Industries Corporation (NSIC),
Bhubaneswar spoke about the
role of NSIC in supporting the Food
Processing Sector. He stated the Ms. Nimeshika Natarajan, Assistant Director, World
constraints faced by the Indian Trade Center Bhubaneswar moderated the session.
Food Processing Sector, Challenges for the Food
Processing Industries, SWOT of Food Processing The programme was held on August 19, 2022 at IDCO
Industries, Schemes of NSIC, Marketing support by NSIC, Conference Hall, IDCO Towers.
Single Point Registration for Government Purchase and
the benefits extended to MSEs having valid SPRS n
Registration. He further deliberated on the MSME Global
Mart B2B Web Portals for MSMEs, Consortia and Tender
Marketing Schemes (CTMS), Credit Facilitation through
Banks, RMA against Bank Guarantee, Bill Discounting,
Raw Materials Distribution, NSSH launched by Hon’ble
Prime Minister, interventions for SC-ST entrepreneurs
and MSME Sambandh – Public Procurement Policy
Monitoring Portal.

Business Delegation from Odisha, India to

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
(From left to right): Mr. Dilip Sahoo, Director, Directorate of Export Promotion & Marketing, Odisha; Mr. Rajen Padhi,
Commercial Director, B One Business House Pvt. Ltd. (third from right), Mr. JK Moanty, Managing Director, Swosti Group of
Hotels (second from right) and Ms. T Sweta, Officer – Trade Promotion, WTC Bhubaneswar felicitating Dr. Madan Mohan Sethi,
Consul General, Consulate General of India, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (second from left).
A
s a part of International Trade Promotion initia- trade potentials between the two regions, emerging
tive, World Trade Center Bhubaneswar mobilized sectors as well as the upcoming plan of action between
a Business Delegation to Ho Chi Minh City, the delegates and the special invitees.
Vietnam with an objective to provide international
exposure focusing on the MSME sector. The initiative Subsequently, the day three witnessed an interactive
aimed at enhancing visibility and outreach of the unique meeting at the Consulate General of India where the
potential products from the state of Odisha. The business delegates made a brief presentation about their busi-
delegation was supported by the Consulate General of nesses to the key officials of the Consulate. They further
India, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and the Department of discussed the business prospects in Vietnam for the
Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Government of particular sectors. Dr. Sethi also made a presentation
Odisha. deliberating on a detailed analysis of the Vietnamese
market and the bilateral trade prospects between
The delegates represented various sectors like Tourism & Vietnam and India, focusing on the State of Odisha. The
Hospitality, Agriculture & Food Processing, Seafood & program was followed by a meeting with the key office
Marine Products, Millets & Processed Food, Handloom & bearers of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce &
Textiles, Machinery & Equipments, Indian Spices and IT & Industries (VCCI) in order to develop business linkages at
Technology. the VCCI premises.
The first day of the four day schedule kicked off with a In addition to that, a networking dinner was hosted by the
luncheon meeting hosted by Dr. Madan Mohan Sethi, consulate with local industry bodies and prospective
Consul General, Consulate General of India, Ho Chi Minh business houses like Vinh Loc Food Processing & Trading
City. The meeting witnessed active discussions on the Co. Ltd, Indian Importers Chambers of Commerce &

Delegates during interaction with Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industries (VCCI).
Delegates at the residence of Dr. Madan Mohan Sethi, Consul General, Consulate General of India, Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam (center) for understanding the prospects of bilateral trade between India and Vietnam over a luncheon.
Industry, Vietravel, Ho Chi Minh City Computer The business delegation could thus help in paving way for
Association etc. trade between both the regions and acted as a big morale
booster for the focus MSME sectors to think of trading
B2B meetings and sector wise industry visits were beyond their regional boundaries, making the endeavour
scheduled as part of the program on day four. The a successful one.
delegates also paid a visit to tourist & historical places in
Ho Chi Minh City for sightseeing on a Sunday (leisure day) The Business Delegation visit was conducted from
which added to the better understanding of Vietnamese 3rd to 6th September, 2022.
culture while helping them get familiar with their market
and products. n

Management Development Program (MDP) on Digital Marketing
Participants during the training program
D
igital Marketing is extremely crucial in today’s era Mr. Shantanu Nayak, Founder,
as it helps us focus on targeted audiences with a Webboons Pvt. Ltd. as a resource
global reach, unlike traditional methods of person demonstrated on the
marketing. Digital Marketing refers to the use of the basics of digital marketing, its
digital channels to market products and services to reach objectives and benefits, difference
consumers. This method of marketing involves the usage between traditional and digital
of social media, websites, search engines and other marketing, strategies for digital
similar channels. marketing, business listing on Google, Amazon / Flipkart
Seller, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay Per Click
In this context, World Trade Center Bhubaneswar (PPC) marketing, e-mail marketing and affiliate
organized a five day’s training program in association marketing.
with MSME-DFO, Cuttack and Directorate of Export
Promotion and Marketing (DEPM), Odisha. The initiative Mr. Rajen Padhi, Commercial
was a part of the Up scaled Entrepreneurship Skill Director, B One Business House
Development Programmes Scheme by Ministry of Micro, Pvt. Ltd. and Convener, WTC
Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India. Bhubaneswar International
Trade Promotion Think Tank
The first day of the training during his address made a detailed
program commenced with an presentation on export import
inaugural address by Ms. Nitisha procedures and documentation. He started off with basic
Mann, Deputy Director, MSME- fundamentals of international trade and progressed to
DFO Cuttack. In her address she international business transactions, The General
briefed the participants about the Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), World Trade
program and deliberated on the Organization (WTO), World Customs Organization (WCO),
role of MSME-DFO, Cuttack in handholding and imple- Import Export Code (IEC) Registration, Registration cum
menting various schemes and policies framed by the Membership Certificate (RCMC) and Inco Terms. He also
Government of India for the Micro, Small & Medium gave a simplified overview on FAS (Free Alongside), Fob
Enterprises. (Free on board), CFR (Cost and Freight), CIF (Cost

Insurance Freight), DDP (Delivery Duty Paid) and EXW (Ex- Dr. MD Washim Raja, Assistant
works). In addition to that, he deliberated on Professor - Marketing, Xavier
Merchandise Exports (MEIS) Scheme, types of L/C (Letter Institute of Management,
of Credit), Payment Risk Coverage, Payment Regulators Bhubaneswar made a detailed
and Custom Tariff Act 1975. presentation on the importance of
marketing in the current business
Ms. Sony Samal, Founder, 72 DPI Skillz Pvt. Ltd. scenario. He explained the theory
highlighted the significance of Digital Marketing for and application of digital marketing. He further deliber-
Women Entrepreneurs. She guided them on the process ated on building the digital marketing plan, digital
of identifying the business aspirations & goals, target application of 7Ps to ASOS and Boohoo, digital marketing
audience, basics of marketing techniques, market objectives and tactics, resource planning, online market-
research, web design and development etc. In addition to places, ethical insights, budgeting and consumer
that, she deliberated on content strategy, website response.
wireframe, information architecture, brand colours,
content strategy, branding and marketing communica- Mr. Sudhansu Pradhan, Expert,
tions. Government E- Market (GeM)
f ro m G ov e r n m e n t o f I n d i a
Ms. Gayatri Kampa, Assistant General Manger, Bank deliberated on the digital market-
of India in her session deliberated on the Credit Facilities ing strategies and GeM registration
and opportunities available for MSMEs. procedures.
During the Valedictory Session, Ms. Nitisha Mann,

Mr. Subhasis Das, Chief Deputy Director, MSME-DFO Cuttack proposed the
Manager, National Small Scale vote of thanks.
Industries Corporation (NSIC) in
his session made a detailed Ms. Nimeshika Natarajan, Assistant Director, World
presentation on the various Trade Center Bhubaneswar moderated the session.
schemes of NSIC and the features
of NSIC Global Mart which provides T h e t ra i n i n g p ro g ra m w a s c o n d u c t e d f ro m
for a marketing platform for MSMEs. September 12 - 16, 2022 at Conference Hall, DEPM
Odisha.
n
BHUBANESWAR
WE GROW TRADE
R
OBJECTIVE
§ Facilitates Trade & Investment Promotion of Odisha
§ Assist local businesses to foray in to global markets
TRADE SERVICES
Trade related Programmes | Export Counselling | International Market Connections
Education & Training Programmes | Opportunity to participate in International Trade Shows
World Trade Center Bhubaneswar

Facilitates Businesses to Access Global Markets
Administrative office Registered office:
st
World Trade Center Bhubaneswar (Odisha) Association 31 Floor, Center 1, Cuffe Parade,
rd Mumbai - 400005, Maharashtra, India
3 Floor, IDCO Tower, Extension Building, Janpath,
Tel.: 022 66387272 | Email: [email protected]
Bhubaneswar - 751022, Odisha, India
t: +91 674 2541233 | e: [email protected]
www.wtcbhubaneswar.org Follow us on:

WTC Goa Events ON TRADE
Boosting Goa’s Food Processing Capacity
G
oa’s climate is
conducive for
growing a variety of
food crops that include rice
and types of vegetables and
fruits. Although most of the
produce is consumed by
locals, value addition for the
remaining cannot be made
due to lack of processing
facilities.
However, things are

changing and a new
beginning has been made
with the setting up of a Participants at the Multiproduct Processing Centre, Pale, situated in the Bicholim Taluka of
Multiproduct Processing North Goa.
Centre, Pale, situated in the
Bicholim Taluka of North The center encourages locals to try and increase their
Goa, which is an initiative of the Goa Biodiversity Board produce, and then purchases the excess from them. Also,
and supported by the Goa Shipyard Limited. The objec- employment opportunities are provided to locals who
tive of this initiative is to create livelihoods for the locals carry out various processing activities by adding value to
as well as add value to the locally produced food crops. the raw materials. This helps the locals generate good
This initiative is the brain child of the dynamic Dr. Pradip returns by earning an
Sarmokadam, Member Secretary of the Goa Biodiversity ex t ra i n c o m e . T h i s
Board. center currently
employs around 12 to
World Trade Center Goa, organized a business cum 15 women profession-
educational field trip to the food processing center to als. Participants
understand its workings and figure if this model could be discussed and debated
replicated in more areas of Goa to enable more utilization on the business
of local resourses. structure and feasibility
of setting up such
Laid out in a lush green landscape, the center has various centers in various
facilities like a dry area for receiving and storing various talukas of Goa, with the
products, a pantry area for carrying out various process- idea of catering to the
ing activities, an oven and pulverizer along with cold local market as well as
storage facilities that help in creating an end to end producing marketable surplus that could be exported to
solution for completing the processing process. It is a the global markets with the help and support of WTC
perfect blend of minimalistic design, good hygiene, Goa’s network.
suitable machinery and compact space which together
lead to produce world class products. The entire operations of the Center were well explained
by Mrs. Jyostna Fatrekar who leads part of the team that
The range of products include lime and jackfruit pickles, runs the day to day activities of the center.
amla juice, jackfruit and mango foodpulp, masalas,
banana & jackfruit chips etc. All these products branded The visit was conducted on July 30, 2022 at Pale,
and marketed under the "GoVan" brand are fast moving Ussgao, Bicholim Taluka.
and have established themselves well in the market.
n

Truett & Hill, London – soon in Goa!
T
he men’s grooming sector is a fast moving one ‘Company owned Company Operated’ or ‘Franchisee
given the fact that personal grooming is now Owned and Franchisee operated’. He also informed
becoming an important facet across genders. about the ability of the company to help in selecting the
right personnel to operate the store as well has lend a
Keeping this in mind World Trade Center Goa (WTC Goa) helping hand in constructing the building infrastructure
arranged a webinar to invite Lloyds Luxuries Ltd, to as well as internal design and layout that should be
consider bringing Truefitt & Hill to set shop in Goa. complementary to the global standards of Truefitt & Hill.
Treufitt & Hill has a legacy of over 215 years and a Mr Suhail Khan also touched upon the ideal location, the
presence in Goa would not only benefit the company base amount of initial investments and the Returns on
itself but also the State of Goa through enhanced Investment (ROI) that could be expected both in the short
investments and provision of jobs and livelihoods to and long run.
professionals operating in the Men’s Grooming and
Wellness Sector. Mr. Eric Menezes, Founder,
MPCL Pvt. Ltd. who has more than
Established in 2013, Lloyds Luxuries Ltd. has successfully five decades of experience in men’s
acquired the Master Franchise License of Truefitt & Hill grooming through his association
for India and some neighboring countries. They have with brands like Old Spice and Blue
already set up an International Store in Dhaka, Strattos, said that he has visited the
Bangladesh and are also operating stores in major cities Truefitt & Hill stores both in India and overseas and is
in India like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad to happy that the brand was looking to enter Goa soon.
name a few. According to Mr. Menezes, initial investments that are
required may be a point of concern along with the ROI,
Mr. Suhail Khan, Senior Manager- Franchise which he thought might be a challenge for some.
Development, Lloyd’s Luxuries Ltd. spoke with passion
about the luxury brand, it’s royal Mr. Thome Menezes, Founder,
heritage and how it could change MPCL Pvt. Ltd. having close to two
the way men’s grooming and decades of experience in the men’s
wellness is currently understood in grooming and wellness sector,
Goa. Mr. Khan also threw light on spoke on the importance of
the business models that the choosing a central location for the
company could consider namely,

store, well trained personnel as well as quality infrastruc- Further, Goa being India’s top tourist center, attracts both
ture that would be in line with the brands international International and National HNIs who are already clients
stature. He anticipated that this would be an ideal of Truefitt & Hill worldwide and would be delighted to
initiative for Goa, but attracting quality footfalls that avail of quality Men’s Grooming and wellness services in
would justify the Investments as well as ROI may be a little Goa.
challenging.
On the Business front, Goa has a potential to transform
Mr. Cyril Desouza, Assistant itself as a world class Meetings, Incentives, Conferences
Director – Trade Promotion, WTC and Exhibition (M.I.C.E) destination, which will attract top
Goa suggested ways to attract class delegates to Goa. The International Film Festival of
footfall at the store and also India (IFFI) that is held annually in Goa attracts a large
assured to extend WTC Goa’s help number of HNIs including , film stars and eminent
and support in successfully personalities that could play a large part in making the
establishing this venture in Goa Truefitt & Hills venture in Goa a very successful and
profitable one.
Truefitt & Hills natural progression to enter into Goa is
truly well timed as Goa has a select High Net worth The webinar was held on August 31, 2022.
Individuals (HNI) who have experienced the services of
Truefitt & Hill during their travels across the Globe. n
Goan entrepreneurs can now fast track their business success
(From left to right): Mr. Cyril Desouza, Assistant Director – Trade Promotion, WTC Goa; Mr. Gavin D’Souza, Director, Lila Digital
and Environmental Solutions Pvt Ltd; Mr. D. R. Johari, Assistant Director, Grade 1 MSME D&FO; Mr. M. K. Meena, Joint Director,
MSME D&FO Goa; Mr. Atul Anand, Chief Manager, State Bank of India; Mr. P. P. Kulkarni, Assistant Director, MSME D&FO and Mr.
Himanshu Patnekar, Functional Manager, Directorate of Industries Trade and Commerce.
F
or a Business to thrive it is imperative that they aware of these schemes, World Trade Center Goa along
receive appropriate support at the right time. The with the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises
Central and State Governments have a number of Development & Facilitation Office (MSME D&FO) Goa,
schemes to help entrepreneurs but often times entrepre- jointly organized an Entrepreneurs Awareness
neurs are not aware of the schemes that are currently Programme.
available to them. Thus in order to make entrepreneurs

Mr. M. K. Meena, Joint Director, various schemes available with the DITC, he spoke on
MSME said that he would like to schemes like, ‘Capital Subsidy Scheme’, ‘Interest Subsidy
address the infrastructural Schemes’, ‘Employment Subsidy Scheme’, ‘Incentive to
challenges that some of the Local Purchase Scheme’ and ‘Incentive to Green Investor
Industrial Estates are facing in Goa. Scheme’. He explained each scheme in detail and the
He was very positive that if these parameters and conditions required for availing the
challenges could be addressed schemes. He said that it is necessary to register with the
then the businesses could thrive better and it would be department to avail the various schemes bundled under
much easier and viable for stake holders to utilise the the umbrella schemes.
schemes. Mr Meena emphasised that good infrastruc-
ture would also result in better movement of raw Mr. Atul Anand, Chief Manager,
materials and finished products. This would result in a lot State Bank of India made a
of savings for the enterprises which will in turn add a detailed presentation on the
positive result to their profits. various schemes that were
available to the entrepreneur
M r . D. R . J o h a r i , A s s i s t a n t through the State Bank of India.
Director, Grade 1, MSME D & FO He highlighted and explained
in his opening remarks highlighted some of the important schemes like, ‘Pradhan Mantri
that access to correct information Mudra Yojana’, ‘Electronic Dealer Financial Scheme’,
is the key for entrepreneurs to run Lease Rental Discounting’, Export Packing Credit’, Export
their businesses successfully. Mr Bill Abroad Re-discounting Scheme’ and Pre- shipment
Johari mentioned that the platform Credit in Foreign Exchange’
of MSME D & FO is an ideal
platform which offers a host of schemes for entrepre- Mr. Gavin D’Souza, Director, Lila
neur who should take maximum advantage of the same Digital and Environment
to enhance their businesses. Mr. Johri was confident that Solutions Pvt. Ltd., an established
this programme would be helpful for entrepreneurs to entrepreneur who also success-
understand the options open to them for successfully fully runs business groups related
running their businesses. to Finace, IT and education, in his
address informed participants that
Mr. P. P. Kulkarni, Assistant MSME Samadhan has been a good support to get back
Director, MSME D & FO, explained disputed claims. He also noted that Udyam registration
the delegates about the impor- along with the Government E- Market place portal are
tance of the Udyam Registration very important for enhancing business potential. Mr
for availing the various schemes D’Souza was of the view that such programmes are
that are available. He then elabo- necessary as entrepreneurs can get first hand informa-
rated on various schemes for start- tion of various schemes available and also present a
ups like Gram Udyog Vikas Yojana Scheme and the Credit platform for effective interaction with the officials of
Gurantee on loans to MSME. Mr. Kulkarni also informed various Government bodies.
the participants about other available schemes like the
‘Procurement and Marketing Support ’, ‘Public Mr. Cyril Desouza, Assistant Director – Trade
Procurement Policy for MSMEs’ for providing marketing Promotion, World Trade Center Goa in his concluding
support to the MSMEs, ‘Micro and Small Enterprises address spoke on the role of WTC in promoting interna-
Cluster Development Program’ and the ZED certification tional trade from Goa. He spoke on the support that WTC
scheme. Goa can offer entrepreneurs wanting to export their
products from Goa. Mr Desouza also expressed that he
Mr. Himanshu Patnekar, would like to see many more entrepreneurs take
Functional Manager, advantage of the services offered by WTC Goa.
Directorate of Industries Trade
and Commerce, (DITC) Goa The programme was held on September 27, 2022 at
apprised the delegates on the Nalanda Hall, EDC House, Panaji Goa.

WTC Jaipur Events ON TRADE
Skilling youth and women to become successful entrepreneurs
(From left to right): Mr. Navneet Agarwal, Assistant Director -Trade Promotion, World Trade Center Jaipur ; Mr. S. S. Naik,
Regional Director, RD-RDSDE - Rajasthan; Dr. Yogesh Agarwal, Dy. Director -Training, NSTI (W) Jaipur; Mr. Anoop Singh Parihar,
Deputy Director NSTI (W) - Jaipur and Mr. Sanjay Gaur, Sr. Journalist & OSD to Chairman, VSDC, Government of Rajasthan.
W
orld Trade Center Jaipur partnered with programs should be organized which would help artisans
National Skill Training Institute (W) to support get a fair chance to earn a livelihood.
the flagship initiative of the central govern-
ment and Rajasthan Government of skilling young Mr. Anoop Singh Parihar, Deputy
aspirants to become successful entrepreneurs. Director NSTI (W) - Jaipur pointed
out that NSTI organizes regular
Inaugurating the session, Mr. S. S. training programs in trades having
Naik, Regional Director, RD- high employability. These training
RDSDE - Rajasthan informed that programs are designed on
women constitute about 48% of industrial pattern, which include
the total population in the country. eight hours of regular training for five days a week with no
But in the employment market, out vacations in between. Leaves during these programs are
of the 397 million employed as per the rules of Government of India.
population in 1999-2000, women are only about 123
million, and out of which, only around 5 million women Dr. Yogesh Agarwal, Dy. Director
are in the organized sector, while the remaining 118 -Training, NSTI (W) - Jaipur
million are in the un-organized sector. To reduce gender informed that Women’s Vocational
inequality, special gender specific programs are Training Programs at Directorate
formulated and organized by the government to main- General of Employment and
stream women into economic activities. Training (DGE&T), Ministry of
L a b o u r & E m p l oy m e n t w e re
Mr. Sanjay Gaur, Sr. Journalist & designed and launched in 1977. These programs are now
OSD to Chairman, VSDC, looked after by the Ministry of Skill Development and
Government of Rajasthan spoke Entrepreneurship in an attempt to promote women’s
about the importance of skill employment in the industry (mainly organized sector) as
development. He opined that low semi-skilled or skilled & highly skilled workers through
skill results in poverty and inequal- skill training facilities under Craftsmen Training Scheme,
ity and that more skill development Advanced Skill Training Scheme and Apprentices Training
Scheme.

‘‘Programs for higher skill training for instructors of Mr. Navneet Agarwal, Assistant Director -Trade
various skill training organizations are also organized to Promotion, World Trade Center Jaipur proposed vote
achieve this objective. The government has also set up of thanks.
women exclusive Institutes, both under Central Sector
and Centrally sponsored Schemes,” informed Dr. The program was held on July 15, 2022.
Agarwal.
n
Handicraft sector needs government support

to overcome challenges
R
ajasthan is a prominent Indian state in handicraft Pvt. Ltd. & Founder, Hindustan
making, which is an age-old sector that supports Radiators and Heat Exchangers,
livelihood and also generates foreign exchange to Jodhpur was the key speaker at the
the nation through exports. The prolonged period of event. He informed that Jodhpur -
pandemic tested the resilience of handicraft units who the cultural capital of Rajasthan,
faced several challenges such as lack of buyers, high cost has lately emerged as a hub of
of raw material, shortage of labour, dearth of finance and wooden artistic furniture and
logistics issues. Despite these challenges, this traditional handicrafts, retaining the leadership status in exporting
sector is showing signs of revival, in terms of manufactur- wooden crafts from India. He pointed out that these
ing and exports of products across multiple categories. products are unique and sophisticated in design, besides
representing our cultural heritage.
World Trade Center Jaipur organized an online discussion
on ‘Export Potential of Handicrafts from Rajasthan’ to Mr. Modi continued, “Today, the handloom and handi-
discuss the opportunities in this sector and how it can craft sectors are of National Importance, providing
lead to employment generation. employment to nearly 110 Lakh people in the organized
and unorganized sectors. It also contributes to the
Mr. Paresham Modi, Director, Prakash Handicrafts economy in billions from its exports revenues. Despite

this, handicraft artisans suffer from lack of training and Delegates from multiple states attended the webinar to
development facilities, formal education, product understand the underlying opportunities in the rapidly
marketing skills, lack of exposure to new age technolo- emerging sector.
gies, lack of market intelligence and the biggest challenge
of flight of talent with inability to retain the newer Mr. Modi addressed multiple questions from the
generation to the trade.’’ participants on how to set up small handicraft stores with
limited budget and raw material.
To cope up with this problem, Mr. Modi suggested a few
ideas viz. tackling the problem of middlemen, developing Mr. Navneet Agarwal, Assistant Director, World
market linkages, skill upgradation, access to economic Trade Center Jaipur proposed the vote of thanks.
independence by providing flexible finance opportunities
and last but not the least, the release of a compressive The Webinar was held on July 27, 2022.
package by the Government which, according to him,
would address the challenges and boost the artisans’ n
morale.
ZED Certication Scheme to make MSMEs

Efciency Champions
T
o promote adaptation of quality tools and systems Certification aims at enhancing the competitiveness of an
and also energy efficient manufacturing, World MSME through assessment, handholding, managerial
Trade Center Jaipur and MSME DFO Jaipur orga- and technological intervention etc., hence it is much
nized a webinar on ‘Awareness Programme on MSME more than just a Certification” expressed Mr. Trivedi.
Sustainable ZED Certification Scheme’ and invited
manufacturers from all over the state of Rajasthan to join Mr. A K. Goyal, ZED-Lean QMS
and understand the nuances of the scheme from subject Expert, Arun & Sons Engineering,
matter experts. Jaipur in his presentation
informed that any number of units
Mr. Japan Trivedi, ZED Certified registered under one Udyam
Consultant, Effort Consulting, Registration can apply for subsidy
Ahmedabad (Gujarat) in his under this Scheme. Each Unit
address pointed out that MSMEs (under one Udyam Registration) will need to apply for
are among the strongest drivers of C e r t i fi c a t i o n s e p a r a t e l y t o a v a i l s u b-
economic development, innova- sidy/benefits/incentives. He further mentioned that
tion and employment and it MSMEs will be given financial assistance/subsidy for
become imperative to strengthen their ecosystem. ‘‘The obtaining a ZED Certification Level and moreover there
Government of India envisioned the Zero Defect Zero will be an additional subsidy of 10% for the MSMEs
Effect (ZED) initiative to enhance MSME competitiveness, owned by Women/SC/ST Entrepreneurs or MSMEs in
and make them sustainable and transform them as NER/Himalayan/LWE/Island territories/aspirational
National and International Champions. Through the districts. ‘‘There will be an additional subsidy of 5% for
journey of ZED Certification, MSMEs can reduce wastage MSMEs which are also a part of the SFURTI or Micro &
substantially, increase productivity, enhance environ- Small Enterprises - Cluster Development Programme
mental consciousness, save energy, optimally use natural (MSE-CDP) of the Ministry’’ he said. Further, Mr. Goyal
resources, expand their markets, etc.’’ he remarked. Mr. mentioned that MSMEs may opt for upgrading their
Trivedi further highlighted that MSMEs will be motivated Certification Level at any point of time before the expiry
to adopt best practices in work culture, standardization of validity of their existing ZED Certification. Cost and
of products, processes, systems etc. in order to enhance subsidy will remain the same for the applied level.
their global competitiveness and sustainability. ‘‘The ZED

Mr. V. K. Sharma, Director, Mr. Girish Kumar Sharma, Commerce Centre - Sirohi; District Industries &
A s s i s t a n t D i re c t o r a n d M r . B a l ra m M e e n a , Commerce Centre – Jalore; District Industries &
Investigator (Mechanical) from MSME-DFO Jaipur Commerce Centre – Banswara; Industry Associations
urged manufacturers to come forward and register their Rajsamand; Industry Associations Chittorgarh; Industry
units for ZED scheme. Associations Sirohi; Industry Associations Jalore and
Industry Associations Banswara.
Later, Mr. Goyal responded to multiple queries from
participants. Vote of thanks was proposed by Mr. Navneet Agarwal,
Assistant Director, World Trade Center Jaipur
The program was supported by District Industries &
Commerce Centre - Rajsamand; District Industries & The programme was held on August 30, 2022.
Commerce Centre - Chittorgarh; District Industries &
n
With better educational standards,

global opportunities are evident
T
o commemorate Teachers Day and to organize a to provide infrastructure for education and policy
thinktank discussion, World Trade Center Jaipur framework whereas the private sector with best of their
organized a panel discussion on ‘Broadening capabilities can handhold scholars and help them
Educational Goals for Global Opportunities in Trade’ with prepare for an extraordinary career by bringing best
the support of SGVU-Jaipur, Mimansa Infotech and JW practices to academic institutions.” Prof. Gilhotra also
Media. The program set a benchmark discussion which urged that steps must be taken to standardize the quality
dwelled upon the best standards to be set and how our of education across the country and the biggest chal-
leaders for tomorrow should prepare themselves today lenge of making education affordable should be
in educational and training centers and make themselves addressed immediately.
industry ready.
Mr. Madhusudan Dadhich,
Chief Guest for the programme Specialist, Technical Education &
Mrs. Manju Sharma, Vice Skill Development, Jaipur said
President, Vipra Welfare Board, t h a t t h e re h a v e b e e n m a n y
Government of Rajasthan threw schemes that have been imple-
light on the State Government’s mented to benefit our entire
steps in empowering students and community of students, notable
also emphasized on the develop- among them have been the ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’,
ment of vocational training centers ‘National Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary
to prepare professionals. Mrs. Sharma said, ‘today Level’, ‘Mid-Day Meal Scheme’, ‘Rashtriya Madhyamik
expenditure on education has significantly risen, S h i k s h a A b h i y a n ’ , ‘ S c h e m e f o r I n f ra s t r u c t u re
Government of Rajasthan has been welcoming ideas Development in Minority Institutes’ and ‘Beti Bachao Beti
from youngsters and provided incubation support, and Padhao’
most importantly student teacher ratio which has been
always a subject of discussion is steadily rising. Qualified Distinguished panelist addressed queries of the partici-
teachers have been recruited in all districts.” pants and recommended them on courses for personal-
ity development and foreign trade certification pro-
Guest of Honor, Prof. Ritu M. grams.
Gilhotra, Pro-President, SGVU
Jaipur, advocating Public Private Mr. Navneet Agarwal, Assistant Director, Trade
Mode (PPM), said that PPM in Promotion proposed the vote of thanks.
school education can operate to
provide infrastructural facilities, The programme was held on September 5, 2022 at
sustenance of amenities and SGVU-Jagatpura, Jaipur.
educational services. ‘‘It is expected from the government n

WTC Jaipur organizes session to inspire aspiring engineers
B
harat Ratna Sir Dr. M. Visvesvaraya’s birthday on Rajasthan which is owned by DAE, Government of India. It
September 15 is observed as Engineers Day every also owns two VVER reactors of 1000 MW capacity each.
year to honour his extraordinary contribution to Kakrapar Atomic Power Project (KAPP) Unit – 3 was
the field of civil engineering, irrigation and flood control synchronized to the grid on January 10, 2021 and is
systems. expected to commence commercial operation soon.
‘‘Apart from KAPP Unit-3 of 700 MW capacity, NPCIL has
World Trade Center Jaipur organized a panel discussion nine more reactors under construction with a total
on ‘Rebuilding India: Role of Engineers in Sustainable capacity of 7500 MW,” he highlighted.
Development’ to inspire aspiring engineers to step
forward and contribute towards Nation Building. The Guest of Honour, Mr. Madan Yadav, Director, SSBC
session brought together luminaries and leaders from Group, Jaipur said, “Engineers are the essential human
the construction industry. resource for nation building. They
naturally have the required skills
Chief Guest Ms. Pooja Ranawat, and educational background that
Director, Pooja Square, Jaipur leads to the construction of great
describing the significance of the factories, bridges and dams,
day said that engineers play a vital infrastructure development on
role in the growth of a nation. The highways, nuclear reactors for
day is celebrated as a tribute to the power, and not just this they now
first, and one of India’s greatest make ships and submarines for the country too. In
ever engineer, Bharat Ratna Sir Dr. Mokshagundam totality, they generate wealth by putting in place the
Visvesvaraya whose contribution and teaching in the infrastructure for economic development.”
field of engineering are significant. He received the
Bharat Ratna Award for his excellent skills and was Dr. Om Prakash Sharma,
pioneer to help establish educational & engineering Principal, GVSET, Jaipur, in his
institutions across the country. ‘‘Since 1968, India has address, emphasized, “Today, due
been celebrating Engineer's Day on this date every year,’’ to globalization, consumption has
she highlighted. increased and demand will
continue to rise coupled with
Enlightening participants and showcasing India’s constant quality consciousness
capabilities in the engineering sector, Special panel putting ultimately all expectations on engineers. On the
Guests Mr. Manoj Srivastava, DGM Contracts and Mr. contrary, we are facing the rising problem of talent drain
Kapil Kumar, Senior Manager Materials Management in our country, as good engineers tend to take assign-
(C & MM), Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd., ments abroad. We must make available good opportuni-
Rawatbhata Rajasthan Site said, “Nuclear Power ties that can interest our nation builders.”
Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is a Public Sector
Enterprise under the administrative control of the The event ended with a question & answer session where
Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of participants engaged with the speakers in a lively
India. NPCIL is responsible for design, construction, discussion.
commissioning and operation of nuclear power reactors.
It is a profit making and dividend paying company with Mr. Navneet Agarwal, Assistant Director, World
the highest level of credit rating (AAA rating by CRISIL and Trade Center Jaipur proposed vote of thanks.
CARE).”
The programme was held on September 15, 2022 at
Mr. Kumar added that NPCIL is presently operating 22 SGVU, Jaipur.
commercial nuclear power reactors with an installed
capacity of 6,780 MW. The reactor fleet comprises two n
Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs), 18 Pressurized Heavy
Water Reactors (PHWRs) including one 100 MW PHWR at

WTC Mumbai - Academy of International Trade ON TRADE
Three-month Course on Export-Import

Prepares Businesses to Scale-up
T
he 12th batch of the Certificate Course in Export
Import Business (CCEIB) was conducted by World
Trade Center Mumbai – Academy of International
Trade. This three-month course will held virtually thrice
weekly on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 6-8
pm.
As global supply chains are realigning, India has a lifetime

opportunity to take advantage of world export markets.
Multinational companies are looking for reliable supply
chain partners like India to de-risk their supply chains. In
this moment of historic opportunity, the academy rolled
out this batch of CCEIB.
an edge as they look to further in their careers in interna-
The experienced faculty will impart their years of tional trade.
knowledge in the five taught modules through case
studies, preparing participants to face an ever-changing The topics that will be covered are overseas markets,
global economic landscape. marketing methods, documentation, finance, insurance,
shipping and logistics as well as importing goods from
The course curriculum has been designed for those other countries, foreign exchange and regulations
individuals who are already in business or are into family- pertaining to exports and imports.
owned ventures as well as entrepreneurs who are export
ready. The knowledge received will provide job seekers The course commenced on August 13, 2022.
Learn International Trade From Trade Experts

ADMISSIONS OPEN
§ Expert faculties in
Post Graduate Diploma in Foreign Trade
international trade with
Post Graduate Diploma In Forex and Risk Management experience in exports
and imports
Certificate Course in Export-Import Business § These courses are
designed with a view
Basic / Advance Chinese Practical Business Conversations Course to impart practical
knowledge from trade
Post Graduate Diploma in Global and Supply Chain Management
specialists
Contact for Registration

Scan here
World Trade Center Mumbai - Academy of International Trade
to apply
Tel.: 022-66387391-95 | E: [email protected]

Representations to Government ON TRADE
Memorandum for Reforms in GST System
I
ndia has completed five years since introducing the As a result of the concerted effort of the government,
Goods and Services Taxes (GST), which is billed as the monthly GST revenue collection has been improving in
path-breaking reform in the country’s indirect tax recent months and the industry is also getting used to
system since Independence. The objective of GST was to this new form of taxation. At the same time, there are still
introduce the concept of One Nation One Tax by harmo- several areas which need focused intervention to
nizing the indirect tax structure across different states. improve the efficiency of the GST regime, enhance
Before the introduction of GST, the Indian market was revenue collection, reduce compliance burden and
fragmented, as every state had different tax laws and tax promote economic growth.
structures.
Following are some of the recommendations in
Introduction of GST was a seminal attempt to create one this regard:
single market by subsuming 17 different taxes and 13
cesses into one tax system. GST was envisaged to reduce Rationalise GST rates: GST is a path-breaking reform in
logistics cost in transferring goods across the borders of the indirect taxation history of post-independent India.
different states by removing inter-state checkposts. It However, the reform is far from complete as India needs
was also assumed to improve ease of compliance to reduce multiple GST rates and bring fuel and other
through a simplified registration system, filing of returns commodities that are outside the purview of this tax
and claiming input tax credit. These benefits could system. There is also a need to reduce compliance
stimulate economic growth by boosting the country’s burden under GST and address operational issues
annual GDP by as much as 1.0%-3.0%, besides enhancing plaguing input tax credit, e-way bills and other features of
the government’s revenue. GST.
However, there were several challenges faced by trade Indian GST has a broad structure of four slab rates
and industry in the initial years of the introduction of GST. namely: 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%. Also, there are special
The government has timely addressed many of these rates for precious metals such as gold, silver, etc. Multiple
challenges by fine tuning the GST compliance procedures tax rates complicate the structure and increase both
and tax slabs. The government has also made compli- administrative and compliance costs.
ance stringent to prevent tax evasion and illicit claim of
input tax credits. In this context, rate rationalization would be a good step
Source: Central Board of Excise & Customs

in fine-tuning the complex structure. The GST Council processing sector by reducing GST on zero-sugar drinks
should begin with the rate rationalization exercise at the and charging the lowest rate of 5% on nutritious bever-
earliest and merge the slabs of 12% and 18%. ages such as fruit juices. The study found that less than
10% of fruits grown in the country are used by beverage
Bring fuel products under GST: The government may processing companies and 25-30% of fruits are wasted
bring petroleum products, power and real estate under because of poor supply chain infrastructure. There is a
GST so that industry can claim input tax credit for taxes need to lower GST rate on fruit juices and also to take
and levies paid on these items. Such a move will further steps to improve cold storage infrastructure to prevent
reduce cascading effect of taxes, reduce cost of doing wastage of fruits.
business and also improve tax compliance.
Waive mandatory registration for e-commerce sales:
Reduce GST rates on all goods except sin goods: Government of India imposed a condition that small
Government may reduce GST rates on those goods that scale units need to register on GST to be eligible to sell
fall under the highest slab of 28%, expect alcohol, tobacco their goods through e-commerce websites. Currently,
and other sin goods. Such a move will not only benefit the small scale retailers with an annual turnover of less than
industry, in terms of reduced cost of production, but also Rs. 40 lakhs are exempted from GST registration as long
benefit the government through rise in tax collection. By as they sell their goods offline. But under the new norms,
reducing GST rates, government may be able to increase even small retailers with a turnover of less than Rs. 40
revenue collection because of improvement in tax lakhs have to mandatorily register with GST if they wish to
compliance. sell their goods through online platforms. This puts
additional compliance burden on small scale retailers
Reinstate provisional ITC credit: In the Finance Bill and hence government may reconsider this decision.
2022, government has removed provisional ITC credit for
recipients of intermediate goods as such credit will now Miscellaneous suggestions:
be dependent on the compliance of suppliers. This will
unnecessarily penalize recipients for any error of mis- Apart from the above suggestions, the government may
reporting or unethical practices on the part of the seller. also correct inverted duty structure in textile and other
Such a move may adversely affect manufacturers of sectors to prevent accumulation of input tax credit with
exportable goods who depend on a long supply chain of the industry. Also, there is a need to strengthen the
input suppliers. Therefore, we suggest the government to Authority of Advance Ruling and Appellate Dispute
reinstate the provisional ITC credit system. Resolution Body for timely settlement of litigation. There
is also a need to provide additional columns in GSTR 3B to
Waive interest on late payment of GST: Many MSME allow for correction of past entries.
vendor units struggle to pay GST on time as their corpo-
rate buyers do not settle invoices on time. In such cases, The government may amend the Place of Supply Rules to
the government may waive charging of interest and late exempt intermediary services where payment is received
fees on such delayed payment of GST. Many MSMEs in foreign currency and services rendered to foreign
render job work to large enterprises and typically their suppliers. In order to improve ease of compliance, the
receivable cycle is 90-120 days. However, they have to pay government may exempt tax on advances received for
GST every month within due date and failure to do so supply of services, in line with similar treatment given for
attracts interest and late fee. Considering the stretched supply of goods.
receivable cycle of these MSME vendors, government
may reconsider interest on GST overdue. We are confident that these reforms will improve ease of
compliance, increase tax collection and also promote
Rationalise GST rates in fruit processing sector: economic growth, as was envisaged at the time of the
Government may consider reducing GST rates on fruit introduction of this revolutionary tax regime.
juices and zero-sugar beverages to promote domestic
production and consumption. Currently, zero-sugar n
carbonated drinks and carbonated fruit-based drinks
attract 40% tax (28% GST + 12% compensation cess). A
study by ICRIER suggests that India can support fruit

Memorandum to promote economic development
H
on’ble Prime Minister has set a milestone of India in 2021. In 2013, this living standard in Bangladesh
becoming a ‘Developed India’ by the time we was 11% lower than the living standard of an average
celebrate 100 years of Independence by 2047. Indian.
This ambitious target requires a well-orchestrated action
plan by policy makers, industry, research institutions, Need for Urban Infrastructure: Another indicator
think tanks and civil society. A developed country is one of economic development is the rate of urbanization.
that is more advanced in terms of economic size, per Countries that are at an advanced stage of development
capita income, technology adoption, infrastructure have high urbanization rate compared to others. In India,
facilities and quality of living. hardly 35% of the population lives in urban areas
compared to the world average of 57%. In the next 25
Need for labour Intensive economic growth: years, around half of the Indian population is expected to
Although GDP and per capita GDP are narrow definitions live in urban areas. As Indian economy grows, more and
of the stage of development, it is widely used as a critical more people will shift away from agriculture and seek
indicator of the development status of an economy. On employment in urban areas, which calls for greater
this metric, India may be the sixth largest economy by investment in urban infrastructure such as mass rapid
GDP size; however, the country ranks at a poor 137th out transit system, airports, housing, drainage and water
of 217 UN recognized countries/territories globally in supply.
terms of per capita income, which stood at USD 2,277 in
2021. India has miles to go in terms of improving the As the world becomes more digitally advanced, digital
nutrition and health indicators of its children and women, inclusion is another metric to attain inclusive economic
education and healthcare infrastructure. growth. In India, hardly 43% of the population uses
internet, compared to the world average of 60%. The use
The remarkable progress made by some developing of internet increases access to financial services,
countries such as Bangladesh holds worthwhile lessons healthcare, education and government schemes, which
for India. In the last decade, per capita income in are increasingly delivered through digital modes.
Bangladesh more than doubled from around USD 1000
to USD 2,500 in 2021, higher than India’s USD 2,277. Globalisation was once for large multinational corpora-
tions, but digital platforms have enabled small enter-
According to a research by Azim Premji University, prises to participate in global trade. This is particularly
Bangladesh produced more jobs per unit of GDP growth significant for countries such as India, where MSMEs
than India as its economic growth model was more account for 28% of GDP, 45% of manufacturing and
labour-intensive than India’s. For every 1% of economic provide more than 110 million jobs. In this context, it is
growth, Bangladesh generated three times more essential for the government to invest more in urban
employment than India during 2010-18, the research infrastructure, upgrade digital infrastructure and
shows. Research also reveals that the high economic support the MSME sector. Apart from these three
growth in India has reduced dependence of labour on priorities, the government may also consider the
agriculture, but this labour migration happened from following policy suggestions to support trade and
agriculture to informal sector such as construction. industry.
Bangladesh has also achieved higher women’s participa-
tion in its workforce, at 35%, compared to 21% in India, as Creating future-ready workforce: As India
Bangladesh has been able to generate high quality jobs in embraces the fourth industrial revolution and the next
the formal sector outside agriculture. phase of internet - Web 3.0, there will be rise in demand
for skilled manpower in blockchain, artificial intelligence,
As a result of its labour intensive economic growth model, machine learning, cyber security and other cutting edge
Bangladesh could increase the real living standard of its technologies. There is a need to upskill our youth and
population in the last eight years. Real living standard is labour force to make them future ready. If India does not
adjusted for inflation and difference in currency have adequate labour force trained in these skills, it may
purchasing power. As a result, real living standard of an not be able to attract investment from domestic and
average Bangladesh citizen is just 4% lower than it is in foreign companies looking for skilled manpower in these

sectors. According to a report by industry body technology, Non Fungible Token and Crptocurrencies.
NASCOMM, India will have 2,000 Global Capability Web 3.0 will allow users to create or trade digital assets
Centers (GCCs) of foreign companies employing at least 2 without having to gain authorization from a governing
million people and generating USD 60 billion revenue. body and they can interact with each other without an
intermediary through programmable trust or smart
India is currently the second most populous country in contracts.
the world and it is expected to overtake China in popula-
tion by next year. India also has the second largest Policymakers need to work closely with industry and
working age population (18% of the world working age think tanks such as NITI AAYOG to evolve a conducive
population), which is a potential asset that needs to be policy to encourage research and innovation by start-up
tapped to drive economic growth. To make its workforce enterprises and entrepreneurs in Web 3.0 enabling
a true asset, India needs to step up investment in skilling technologies such as AI, Machine Learning, blockchain
its labour. The employability of our workforce has risen etc. The government may introduce sandbox regulatory
from 33% in 2014 to 46% by 2022, according to India Skill framework for live testing of new Web 3.0 products and
Report 2022. But still a large part of our working age also set up an expert committee to facilitate dialogue
population lacks skills that are relevant to the rapidly between industry, government and research institutions.
advancing technological landscape.
Measures to Reform GST: It has been more than five
Building capability in digital technologies and years since the rollout of GST regime, which has consoli-
semiconductor: The data driven digital economy is dated several indirect taxes to bring about efficiency,
evolving amidst huge digital divides in terms of digital simplification and integrate the country into one single
readiness, according to Digital Economy Report 2021. market. The government may address some of the
USA and China are frontrunners in harnessing data as existing flaws as follows in the GST regime to improve
they account for 50% of the world hyperscale data ease of doing business, increase compliance and also tax
centers. These two countries also account for 70% of buoyancy.
world’s artificial intelligence (AI) researchers and 94% of
all funding for AI start-ups. These two countries also Ÿ Currently, main contractors who supply goods and
make up 90% of market capitalization for the world’s services to special economic zone units or developers
largest digital platforms. These platforms control all the can avail of the benefit of zero-rated supplies.
stages of global data value chain. However, this benefit is not available to sub-
contractors who serve these main contractors. There
Countries across the globe are planning to reduce import is a need to extend this benefit to sub-contractors as
dependence for semiconductor, which is essential to well so that it will not block working capital of main
advance in the age of Fourth Industrial Revolution. contractors.
Semiconductor is a critical input in electronic gadgets and
hi-tech electronic instruments that will power digital Ÿ Government may consider reducing GST on cement,
economy. Currently, the global export of semiconductor which is currently taxed at the highest rate of 28%,
is dominated by companies in Taiwan and South Korea, and hence it adds to the cost of infrastructure and
while India does not figure in the top manufacturers’ construction companies.
league. The US government passed the ‘CHIPS and
Science Act’ of 2022 to offer USD 52.7 billion incentives to Ÿ Under the GST regime, e-commerce operators are
semiconductor manufacturers in that country. Similarly, required to deduct TCS on the sale proceeds.
European Union plans to spend Euro 43 billion under its Government may reduce the compliance burden of e-
‘European Chips Act’ to step up semiconductor manufac- commerce operators who have to fulfill additional
turing in that country. compliances in states where their sellers are regis-
tered. The current guidelines also require e-
Web 3.0 Policy: The world is entering into the third commerce operators to register in the states where
internet revolution or Web 3.0, which is characterized by they do not have physical presence if their sellers are
de-centralised infrastructure that will democratize registered in those states. Government may relax this
internet by empowering creators and developers to own registration requirement as it adds undue compli-
digital assets. Web 3.0 will be dominated by blockchain ance burden on e-commerce marketplace operators.

Ÿ The government may consider waiving GST on stock loan account is against the principle of ‘Code of Bank’s
transfers between branches of a single e-commerce Commitment to Micro and Small Enterprises adopted by
operator. Currently, such stock transfers are consid- banks. Therefore, RBI and Government of India may look
ered as supplies and hence subject to GST, which into this matter and urge banks to reconsider the
blocks the working capital of e-commerce operator as foreclosure fees.
the GST paid is offset only at the time of final supplies.
Review draft OEIF guidelines: In its draft, Online
Balancing the interest of Operational Creditors Export-Import Facilitators Guidelines (dated April 7,
in IBC resolution: There is a need to amend the 2022), Reserve Bank of India (RBI) excluded ‘services’ from
Insolvency Resolution Process to balance the interest of the list of exports that can be facilitated by online
financial creditors and operational creditors such as payment service providers for shipment. This exclusion
MSME vendors. It is alleged that operational creditors will affect online delivery of services by around 4 lakh
receive lower realization from the insolvency cases in exporters who provide various kind of services such as
recent years. The realization of operational creditors as a accounting, online tutoring, web designing, data entry
percentage of their claims has declined from 52% before etc. to overseas clients. Therefore, RBI may suitably
2019 to 19% by the end of 2019 and further down to 2.2% amend the clauses 3.8 and 5.1 of the draft guidelines to
in the last two years. include ‘services’ as permissible category of exports that
can be facilitated by online payment service providers.
There is a need to put in place a reasonable mechanism
for distribution of proceeds between financial and RBI may also review the clause which requires online
operational creditors. In 2019, the IBC was amended to payment service providers to collect KYC details of
include distribution of proceeds within the commercial foreign importers, before processing their payments. It is
wisdom of Committee of Creditors, which is outside the argued by the industry that online payment service
judicial scrutiny. This amendment empowered the providers may find it difficult to collect KYC details of
Committee of Creditors and thereby resulted in lower overseas importers as they may not possess KYC
realization of claims for operational creditors. documents such as Aadhar and PAN Cards, which are
common in India.
Therefore, there is a need to strengthen the rights of
operational creditors to protect their interest in the Review Press Note 3: Government of India may relax
resolution process. Firstly, the government may allow norms under Press Note 3, which was issued at the height
operational creditors to attend the meetings of the of the pandemic in 2020, to discourage opportunistic or
Committee of Creditors. If a resolution process yields ‘predatory’ investment and acquisition of Indian assets in
more proceeds than the liquidation value, then the strategic or sensitive sectors by investors or entities
excess proceeds over the liquidation value should be based in neighbouring countries. Given that the Indian
equally distributed between financial creditors and economy is recovering from the pandemic-led disrup-
operational creditors. tion, the central government may revisit Press Note 3,
which brought all such foreign investments under
Discourage practice of charging foreclosure fees government approval route.
with MSME borrowers: Reserve Bank of India may
instruct both the public sector and private banks to abide Specifically, the government may exempt investment by
by the ‘Code of Bank’s Commitment to Micro and Small ‘pooled funds’, which are independently and profession-
Enterprises. Recently, there were complaints that some ally managed by foreign fund managers, from such
private sector banks are charging exorbitant foreclosure mandatory government approval clause. Similarly,
fee from MSME borrowers for switching their loan government may relax such approval requirement for
account from one bank to another bank. investment from restricted entities as long as such
investment is less than 10% of the economic interest in an
MSME borrowers should be given the flexibility to close Indian company, in non-strategic sectors. At a time when
their loan account by repaying the outstanding loan Indian start-up enterprises and other companies need
amount with their existing banks and shift their loan foreign capital for business expansion, relaxing the
account to another bank that offers better terms of onerous conditions of Press Note 3 will encourage more
credit. Charging of exorbitant fees for foreclosing the foreign investors to invest in Indian companies.

Policy Memorandum
I
ndia’s merchandise export is showing signs of Slowdown in labour-intensive manufacturing
slowdown in recent months because of weakening
demand in the global market. In the month of The recent data on Index of Industrial Production (IIP)
September 2022, our merchandise exports declined 4% shows decline in production activity in labour-intensive
to USD 32.6 billion led by fall in shipment of engineering sectors such as food products, tobacco and paper
goods, textile, readymade garments, organic chemicals products in July 2022. While production of food products
etc. Even in our competitive sectors such as declined 2%, tobacco products fell 9% and production of
pharmaceuticals and marine products, exports are paper & paper products contracted 0.9% during July 2022
showing signs of weakness. It is only in the electronics from the year ago.
and petroleum products, India has managed to post
strong growth in exports. There is a need to support manufacturing in these labour
intensive sectors by addressing their demand for raw
Western economies such as USA and Europe are bracing material, credit cost, skilled labour and also by providing
for the sharpest rise in interest rates in recent decades as marketing and branding support.
central banks in these regions are hiking benchmark
policy rates to control inflation. This hike in policy rates Economic growth losing momentum
has led to fears of recession in these markets, which may
affect export prospects for Indian goods. USA and Europe The ongoing geopolitical tension in Europe and the rise in
are the major destinations for Indian goods. interest rates across the world have increased risk of
recession in advanced countries such as USA and Europe,
At the same time, the ongoing depreciation of Indian which are the major destinations for our manufacturing
rupee against the dollar may increase the competitive- exports.
ness of Indian exporters in the global market. India’s
rupee has almost touched Rs. 82 per US dollar in recent India’s exports and GDP may lose growth momentum in
trading sessions as foreign investors are withdrawing the coming months if the advanced economies slip into
their investment in Indian market in response to the recession and interest rate in India continues to rise. In
interest rate hike in USA. this scenario, India’s GDP growth in 2022-23 is expected
to be lower than 7.2% projected by Reserve Bank of India.
In this backdrop, government and trade support institu- Many investment banks and multilateral organizations
tions need to work in coordination to help our MSMEs such as Asian Development Bank have revised down the
find new markets for their products and services. There is GDP growth projection of India for the current financial
a need to organize more virtual buyer-seller meetings, year. Asian Development Bank trimmed its GDP growth
virtual trade missions to help our small scale exporters forecast for India from 7.2% earlier to 7.0 now for 2022-
find potential buyers in the foreign market. 23. More specifically, economic growth in the second half
of the current fiscal year may fall as low as 4% because of
In order to enhance the competitiveness of Indian likely slowdown in exports, rising interest cost and other
exporters, Government of India has also been taking factors.
various policy measures in recent years. The government
has introduced some progressive policies such as Rehabilitation of stressed MSME units
Logistics Policy, Production Linked Incentive Scheme,
RAMP scheme for MSMEs to promote manufacturing and Government data shows that the number of MSME units
export competitiveness. that closed their operation during 2021-22 grew 17 times
to 5577 from 330 units in the previous year (data from
These policies need to be implemented in letter and spirit Ministry of MSME shows). The state of Maharashtra itself
at the ground level to realize their intended objectives witnessed 1,608 MSME units closing operations because
and promote economic growth. The government may of the disruption caused by the pandemic. Other major
also consider the following policy suggestions based on affected states are: Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and
the recent reading of macro economic and MSME data. Gujarat, in terms of large sized shutdown of MSME units.

Set up Export Guidance Cell for MSMEs Trade Agreements
Industry reports suggest that contribution of MSME Government has introduced production linked incentive
sector to India’s exports fell to 45% in FY22 from 49 in the (PLI) scheme for 14 products, including mobile phones,
previous year. The central and state governments may medical devices, solar modules, electric vehicles, air
coordinate to set up export guidance cell for MSMEs to conditioners and other equipments.
support them in adhering to global quality standards,
branding and marketing of their products in foreign Government of India is boosting manufacturing sector by
countries. spending nearly Rs. 2 trillion or 1% of our GDP on the PLI
scheme. Now it is necessary to ensure that the scheme
Similarly, the central government may also set up delivers the intended objective in terms of growth in
grievance cell at different districts to address the tax and investment, employment and exports. One way to
procedural grievances related to licensing, access to promote growth in exports in these 13 sectors is to
credit, raw materials and skilled labour. include them in the existing and forthcoming trade
agreements.
Rising interest cost
Government of India may seek preferential market
Bank credit growth has just started picking up pace with access for these goods by including them in the proposed
the non-food bank credit growing at double digit level of free trade agreements with Canada, UK, European Union,
15% as of August 2022. The government may ensure that Israel and other countries. Also, the government may
this pace of credit growth is not affected by rising interest consider inclusion of these products in the existing trade
rate scenario. Reserve Bank of India has hiked policy repo agreements with ASEAN, South Korea and Japan, as and
rate by 1.4% since April 2022 to control inflationary when these agreements come under review.
pressure.
India has signed more than 16 trade agreements with
Following this, the average interest rate on fresh rupee various countries so far; yet these agreements have not
loan extended by banks has risen from 7.63% in March produced significant impact in our foreign trade. India’s
2022 to 8.18% by July 2022 and it is expected to rise trade with FTA partner countries has grown marginally
further as RBI is set to hike policy rates in response to from 16% in 2000 to 18.5% now.
persistent inflationary pressure.
USA, European Union, China and Bangladesh are the
Online marketing channel for One District One largest export destination of India even though we do not
Products (ODOP) have trade agreement with most of them. On the other
hand, China managed to enhance its share in India’s total
One District One Product is a transformative initiative to imports from a mere 2.6% in 2000 to 16.5% in 2021,
support livelihood and income of our local cottage despite not having any trade agreement with us.
industries, artisans, craftsmen, farmer producer
companies and MSME units. The government needs to Address rising inflation
support these small scale units in branding and market-
ing their ODOP products. Rising inflation is once again affecting the purchasing
power and denting the consumer sentiment in the Indian
It is welcome that the government is promoting ODOP economy. There is an immediate need to strengthen
products through digital platforms such as Government supply chain of foodgrains and other essential items to
eMarketplace. control consumer price inflation, which has again
touched a 7% mark in August from 6.71% in July.
In future, these products may also be integrated into the According to an analysis, around 60% of the country’s
next generation online marketing platform ‘Open population is living in states where inflation is above the
Network for Digital Commerce’ (ONDC) so that producers national average of 7%. Especially, in states such as West
of these ODOP products need not depend on Amazon, Bengal, Gujarat, Telangana and Maharashtra the
Flipkart and other private marketplaces to reach a wider consumer price inflation is around 8%.
consumer market.
n

Virtual Exhibition ON TRADE
Connect India International Trade Show 2022

Live from August 2022 – November 2022 Connect India 2022 will lead to new areas of partnership
among India, USA, Canada, Vietnam, China and other
Connect India 2022 is an online trade show launched at a participating countries.
time when global supply chains are being redefined by n
economic and geopolitical factors.
MSMEs and large corporate houses are looking for new

supply partners to de-risk their supply chains.
The trade show offers an interactive online platform to

connect around 180 exhibitors to potential partners
across at least 10 countries.
More than 5,000 products across 8 sectors will be

showcased by exhibitors on this platform Agro & Agro Processing Engineering
These eight sectors contribute more than 50% to India’s

exports and 25% to our total imports.
This four-month long exhibition will help facilitate trade

and investment between India and rest of the world in 8
sectors.
These eight sectors are: engineering, auto components,

agro processing, textile & home decor, pharma &
healthcare, renewable energy, technology and telecom. Auto-Components Renewable Energy
Integration into Global Value Chain
This trade show will help MSMEs in the participating

countries to integrate into the global supply chains in the
above mentioned eight sectors
Out of the eight sectors, only in textile and telecom

equipment sectors, India’s share in world export is more
than 3%
Pharma & Healthcare Technology and ICT
In all the other sectors, our share is less than 3%
So, this exhibition presents an opportunity for India to

integrate into the global value chain in the mentioned
eight sectors.
Even though India is said to be the pharmacy of the world,

our share in world exports is hardly 2.7%.
Similarly, India contributes hardly 0.8% to world export

Telecom & Networking Home Decor & Textiles
of machineries, which again reflects untapped potential
to integrate into global value chains.

Exhibitions and Events at WTC Venues ON TRADE
Exhibitions
nd th
Fashion Jalsa (22 - 24 July, 2022)

nd th
Super Moms (22 - 24 July, 2022)

nd th
Thailand Shopping Festival (22 - 24 July, 2022)

Brides of Mumbai (29th - 30th July, 2022)

Elite Clothing (4th August, 2022)
Fashion Affair (5th - 7th August, 2022)

Kidtown Fair (5th - 6th August, 2022)

Paramparik Karigar (17th - 20th August, 2022)

Texprocil (24th - 26th August, 2022)

Prayaas Kutch Expo (14th - 16th September, 2022)
th th
Annual Coin & Bank Notes Fair (16 - 18 September, 2022)

MSME Intl. Education Expo (18th - 20th September, 2022)
Kanakavalli (19th - 20th September, 2022)

Tisser hand to heart (19th - 22nd September, 2022)
Satvah Exhibition (22nd - 24th September, 2022)

th
Fun Fair Expo (24 September, 2022)
Brides of Mumbai (27th - 28th September, 2022)

Taiwan Expo 2022 (28th - 30th September, 2022)

Highlights ON TRADE
WTC Mumbai Highlights
Shri Narayan Rane, Hon’ble Minister of MSMEs, Government of India (center) being felicitated by Capt. Somesh Batra, Vice
Chairman, WTC Mumbai (extreme right) and Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, WTC Mumbai (extreme left) during a programme held
at World Trade Center Mumbai.
Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, WTC Mumbai with Shri. Pankaj Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, WTC Mumbai with (left to right):
Chaudhary, Minister of State, Ministry of Finance (Revenue) Ms. Sumalatha Ambareesh, MP and Ms. Tracy Brabin, Mayor
of West Yorkshire, UK

Highlights ON TRADE
Hon’ble Mr. Oryem Henry Okello (M.P), Minister of State for Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, WTC Mumbai with Shri. Apurva
Foreign Affairs, Republic of Uganda (2nd from right) being Chandra, Secretary, Ministry of Information and
felicitated by Ms. Rupa Naik, Executive Director, MVIRDC Broadcasting, Government of India.
WTC Mumbai (3rd from right). Also seen in the photograph
(From left to right): Mr. Madhusudan Agrawal, Hon. Consul
General of Uganda in Mumbai; Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman,
MVIRDC WTC Mumbai and Capt. Somesh Batra, Vice
Chairman, MVIRDC WTC Mumbai.
Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, WTC Mumbai being felicitated by Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, WTC Mumbai (right) with Shri.
Mr. Lalit Gandhi, President MACCIA at the Annual General Ashok Kumar Mehta, Pr. Chief Commissioner CGST Mumbai
Meeting of MIDC. Looking on is Dr. P. Anbalagan, CEO MIDC Zone (center) and Mr. Santosh Kotre, Deputy Director-
(extreme left). Finance, Accounts and Admin (left).

Highlights ON TRADE
Independence Day Celebration at WTC Mumbai

#azadikaamritmahotsav
The Arcade building Center 1 building lit up in the colours of Tiranga (The Tri
Colours of an Indian flag).
Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, WTC Mumbai (5th from left); Capt. Somesh Batra, Vice Chairman, WTC Mumbai (4th from left); Capt. R.
K. Gulati, Council Member, WTC Mumbai (2nd from left); Ms. Rupa Naik, Executive Director, WTC Mumbai (7th from left) with Ms.
Harshita A. Narwekar, Ex-Corporator, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (6th from left); consular corps and members of
diplomatic missions on the occasion of flag hoisting ceremony at WTC Mumbai.

ORGANISE BUSINESS PROGRAMMES
One-stop-solution to organise
Board Room corporate conferences and
workshops.
Centrum Hall
South Lounge
Committee Room
State-of-the-art Facilities for

Events & Conferences
Ample Car Parking | 24x7 Security
Arrangements with CCTV Surveillance
and Hand Sanitizing facilities Jasmine Room
For Enquiry Contact:

MVIRDC WORLD TRADE CENTER MUMBAI
st
Center 1, 31 Floor, Cuffe Parade, Mumbai - 400 005, Maharashtra, INDIA
3 | ONt: TRADE
022 6638 7272- /March
January 349 | e: [email protected] /ON
348 /2020 TRADE July - September 2021 | 101
[email protected]
w: www.wtcmumbai.org | wtcmumbaiindia
WORLD TRADE CENTER MUMBAI
Your Gateway to the World
60,000 sq.ft.
area for
Exhibitions & Conferences
MVIRDC World Trade Center Mumbai offers
World Class Venues for Exhibitions, Trade Shows, International Consumer Fairs,
Conferences, Meetings, Seminars, Workshops and Arbitrations.
For Enquiry Contact: [email protected]
Other Services
MVIRDC WORLD TRADE CENTER MUMBAI

31st Floor, Center 1, Cuffe Parade, Mumbai - 400005, Maharashtra, India
t.: 022 66387272 | e: [email protected]
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July - September 2022 | VOL.

Energy & Innovation

Pharmaceuticals & Networking

Home Decor &

Initiative by WTC Mumbai & WTCA, New York

Unleash the Power of Digital Marketing

M. Visvesvaraya Industrial Research and Development Centre (MVIRDC) is a non-profit

I am pleased to announce that on the occasion of completing 50 years of service to trade

ON TRADE July - September 2022 | 3

Captain Somesh C. Batra

for private circulation

21 ƒMs. Margaret Myers

Mr. Steven Holmes p

ON TRADE July - September 2022 | 5

India in the era of Deep Trade Agreements

6 | ON TRADE July - September 2022

m e n t p o l i c y, q u a l i t y s t a n d a rd s , s a n i t a r y a n d trade agreements cover more and more policy areas

ON TRADE July - September 2022 | 7

Coverage detail of India’s trade agreements

The way forward of the 11-country Comprehensive and Progressive

8 | ON TRADE July - September 2022

Costa Rica proposes study to examine

Costa Rica promotes international

ON TRADE July - September 2022 | 9

November 2019, which ‘prohibits

10 | ON TRADE July - September 2022

ferronickel exports, and in 2019 tion, allowing us to provide the right

ON TRADE July - September 2022 | 11

operations extended by the Costa

12 | ON TRADE July - September 2022

Public Forum puts spotlight on Sustainable, Resilient

ON TRADE July - September 2022 | 13

India may diversify its import source for 27 goods

ASEAN has export competitiveness in these

Sources- Ministry of Commerce, UNCTAD, Compiled by MVIRDC WTC Mumbai

14 | ON TRADE July - September 2022

ON TRADE July - September 2022 | 15

India can raise its share in world export of

exports nearly 5% of its production

16 | ON TRADE July - September 2022

Central Footwear Training Institute, Agra

ON TRADE July - September 2022 | 17

18 | ON TRADE July - September 2022

ON TRADE July - September 2022 | 19

overseas importers on the other side. Joint collaboration with large

20 | ON TRADE July - September 2022

Strengthening India-Latin America Economic Relations

ON TRADE July - September 2022 | 21

copper, and gold, which accounted a c t i v i t y ev i d e n t b e f o re C h i n a government’s oﬃcial trade and

Figure 1. India's Trade with Latin America, 2011-2022

Exports to Latin America Imports from Latin America Total Trade

22 | ON TRADE July - September 2022

facilitate the growth of e-commerce, Expanding India-Latin American

ON TRADE July - September 2022 | 23

Healthcare industries in the Latin American region are also growing at a

24 | ON TRADE July - September 2022

ON TRADE July - September 2022 | 25

Immense untapped potential for bilateral trade

Mr. Abel Aballe Despaigne,

Highlights of India - Cuba Economic Relations