Aggressive marketing and an Export Development Fund is need of the hour: M. Rafeeque Ahmed, President, FIEO
FIEO/PUB/PR /84/12 - August 14, 2012
Aggressive marketing and an Export Development Fund is need of the hour: M. Rafeeque Ahmed, President, FIEO
Responding to the July trade data released by the Department of Commerce, Mr M Rafeeque Ahmed, President, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said that the dip in export growth is primarily on account of sluggish global conditions and slowdown in domestic manufacturing. President, FIEO said that while EU is still a cause of concern for exporters, the indications from US are positive and we are hopeful that situation will improve by October giving a push to Indian exports.
Mr Ahmed said that Government need to look into the cost of credit which is adversely impacting both exports as well as manufacturing. The high cost of credit is making it difficult for entrepreneurs to increase their capacity or modernize the same. Moreover, with contraction in demand, more focus should be on aggressive marketing for which Government should provide liberal marketing support through MAI and MDA Schemes to MSME exporters. President, FIEO advocated for an Export Development Fund with a corpus of 0.5% of FOB Value to enable MSME exporters to aggressively enter the unexplored markets. A large number of countries are supporting their SMEs and we should also lend our MSMEs a helping hand.
While reduction in imports is encouraging, one need to look into the profile of such imports so that decline in imports should not have affect on domestic manufacturing sector. However, the overall decline in deficit is good for economy and may have a positive impact on Rupee, said Mr Ahmed.
