From the Desk of Chairman
Dear Members,
As I assume duties as the new Chairman of council, I express my heartfelt gratitude to the past Chairman Mr Bhuvnesh Seth who has led the council at a particular time when the industry was witnessing troublesome years. Under his commendable leadership, the SEZs and EoUs have seen an inclusion under RoDTEP and other schemes, preparation of draft new SEZ bill and several key operational changes that have immensely benefitted the industry. EPCES has always been instrumental in bringing forth the wish list of the industry and successfully playing its role in boosting our exports.
Global trade is set to rebound in 2024 reversing a downward trend despite 2023 being a challenging year as global trade dipped 3% to $31 trillion due to lower demand in developed economies and weaker trade in East Asia and Latin America. Increased GDP growth forecasts, moderating global inflation, growing demand for environmental goods are all set to play a vital role in driving this growth. Increasing demand for container shipping and raw materials are indicating such a positive global trend despite concerns over shipping route disruptions.
India clocked $451 bn goods exports in FY 23 and $394.99 bn in Apr-Feb FY 24. Our share of global goods exports was 1.8% in 2023 and imports was 2.8%. In digitally delivered services, our share increased to 6% in 2023 and 4.4% export share in global commercial services at $344 bn, increasing by 11% on a year-on-year basis with flat imports at $247bn.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s recent decision to extend export benefits under the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) Scheme for companies in Special Economic Zones and Export Oriented Units benefitting Engineering, Textiles, Chemicals, Pharmaceutical and Food Processing and several other sectors has brought in some cheer to the exporters.
Significant progress has also been made towards the much-awaited industry’s wish list of implementing ICEGATE in SEZs through integration of ICEGATE to sezonline portal, as several developers are already making required provisions for hardware and other infrastructure set up in their zones.
My association with the World Free Zones Organization has brought us closer to several global multilateral trade institutes of repute such as United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), World Customs Organization, International Labour Organization, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), who can be partners in our growth story. It would present us business opportunities as I can clearly see traction towards India from companies across the globe. With the general elections around the corner amid mounting expectations of a stable political regime, the outlook for India is all set to be positive. This will bring good news for our trade and industry as continuity in reforms focussed on financial macro stability together with an improvement in broader international markets act as a double-edged sword to accelerate growth.
Wishing this new financial year brings in newer opportunities to us all.