Suresh Prabhu presents CHEMEXCIL Export Awards for year 2016-17

Union Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Shri Suresh Prabhu gave away the CHEMEXCIL Export Awards and Certificates of Merit for the year 2016-’17, at a glittering function organized in Mumbai today. The awards have been given in recognition of firms’ outstanding export performance. The selection of Awards and Certificates of Merit has been done, taking into consideration the consistency and growth achieved in exports during the last three years and the export figure for the year 2016-‘17. A total of 73 awardees received the honours, including two life-time achievement awards.

Congratulating the awardees, the Minister said that the awards function was as much a time of celebration as a reminder of the need to do much more. The Minister said that manufacturing of chemicals has become very difficult in most developed countries, due to the stringent conditions they have imposed on manufacturing. He said that it is time to take advantage of this situation and claim a larger share of the global market. A macro-strategy is required for this, the Minister said. He said that Export Councils should strategize and work as think-tanks in coming up with sectoral strategies for export promotion, market access and other aspects.

The Minister said that the Government has taken a huge number of initiatives in order to promote the growth of Indian industry, and chemical industry in particular. He said however, that the key role in penetrating new markets would have to be played by the industry itself, while Government would be there to provide required support.

Stating that India would become a $5 trillion economy in the next 7-8 years, the Minister said that the nation cannot then afford to be governed by the trade rules for a poor country. He said that the industry must think seriously about creating new market opportunities in this changing context. He said that the Government will help the industry implement its plan for export promotion.

Assuring the industry that the Government will sort out all issues faced by the industry, Shri Prabhu said that it is important not to get bogged down in these issues and in the process lose sight out of opportunities on the horizon.

Speaking on the Mid-term Review of Foreign Trade Policy, the Minister said that very many strategic initiatives have been taken by the Government. The Minister said that the “Trust Based Self Ratification Scheme” has been introduced to allow duty-free inputs for export production under duty exemption scheme with self-declaration. . Under this scheme, instead of getting a ratification of the Norms Committee for inputs to be used in the manufacture of export products, exporters will self-certify the requirement of duty free raw materials/ inputs and take an authorization from DGFT.

Noting that GST is a very important matter, the Minister said that the Government has met with export organizations and many issues have already been addressed. He said that outstanding issues on GST will be taken to the GST Council and properly addressed. At the same time, he exhorted industrialists to take up the issues concerning GST with states as well, since they are also represented in the GST Council. He said this will help the Government to take up the issues in a better way.

The Minister said that he wants to make a portal where all transactions related to foreign trade can happen on this single portal. He said that this one-of-a-kind portal will enable the Government to address all trade-related transactional issues in a very effective manner. He said that discussions have already been initiated with the Ministry of Finance in this regard.

Observing that India is one of the top producers of agrochemicals in the world, the Minister said that it has been decided in consultation with the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers to promote exports of agrochemicals. He said that in the last few months as Minister, he has met more than 150 foreign ministers and delegates, which he noted is an unprecedentedly high number. He said that the Government is taking up with issues and promoting Indian exports into foreign countries.

The Minister said that the recent WTO Ministerial was organized excellently well, with participation of 53 countries. He said the Government is trying to ensure that WTO remains relevant, so that market access is strengthened. He said that the Government is doing extensive consultations so that there is maximum positive impact in terms of market access to India, when Foreign Trade Agreements are formulated.

Speaking of his meeting with the Chinese Commerce Minister, Shri Prabhu said that China has committed to help India in tackling regulatory, market access and supply chain issues. He said that the domestic industry should now pursue with Chinese industry on these matters. He also spoke of reaching out to other East Asian countries, as well as Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Minister said that we must promote India’s exports globally, using bilateral and multilateral forums such as WTO, so that we get huge market access.

He said the Government is working towards this, as reflected in its strategies and actions. He noted that the Government is working on export promotion, administrative changes, regulatory and financial infrastructure in a big way. He exhorted the industry to work as partners with the Government in boosting exports, thereby helping the nation grow faster. He hoped that the children of first-generation entrepreneurs will be first-generation thinkers in terms of taking the industry and the nation to a new level. He highlighted the importance of R&D, especially in a scenario where environmental concerns will become more and more important in the times to come.

LIFE TIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (2)

TRISHUL AWARD (11)

GOLD AWARD (12)

FIRST AWARD (11)

SECOND AWARD (9)

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT (19)

AWARD OF EXCELLENCY (11)

Summary of Awards 2016-2017