Dr Arvind Panagariya, former Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog and Columbia University Professor addresses Secretaries of Union Government on Openness to Trade
Lecture is part of the
programme to take forward Prime Minister’s vision on the need to create better
awareness at senior levels in Government about the importance of trade
Dr Panagariya emphasises the importance of export led growth and the need for
revisiting the strategy on import substitution, export competitiveness, and the
role of FTAs in trade liberalisation
The Department of Commerce (DoC), Ministry of Commerce
and Industry, Government of India, in coordination with organised a programme on “Openness
to Trade: Economic and Policy Considerations” for the Secretaries
to Government of India in New Delhi today. The programme is part of the
initiative by the Prime Minister’s to create better awareness at senior levels
in Government about the importance of trade and the role played by exports in
accelerating growth. It is also one of the Prime Minister's goal of exports as
engines of inclusive growth and finding global markets for Indian local
products.
Accordingly, the Department of Commerce has planned an initiative of a
three-level Capacity building and sensitisation programme to improve awareness
and enhance capacity within the Government of India on Economic, policy and
legal aspects of Trade and Exports and the factors influencing the overall
growth.
The inaugural session on “Openness to Trade: Economic and
Policy Considerations” was conducted by Dr
Arvind Panagariya, Professor of Economics, Columbia University, USA and Former
Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog for the Secretaries of the Government of India.
Dr Panagariya emphasised the importance of export led growth and the need for
revisiting the strategy on import substitution, factors influencing export
competitiveness, and the role of FTAs in trade liberalisation. He also
highlighted the way forward for India when negotiating FTAs and their role in
the global economy.
Rajiv Gauba, Cabinet Secretary, Government of India, was the Chief Guest
and delivered the inaugural remarks highlighting the role of FTAs and
government's intervention such as PLIs (Performance Linked Incentive), ODOP
(One district one product) in achieving India’s goal of a US$ 5
trillion economy and the need for stronger inter-ministerial cooperation and
coordination. He said that Covid had made us realize the pitfalls of depending
on one country and one source. The participants of the first session included
Secretaries from several Ministries/Departments of the Government of India and
the senior officials of the Department of Commerce.