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India may end up last on world trade list

Union Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde has cautioned that India would be the last in the queue in world trade unless the country increased its export earnings to at least $ 100 billion by the turn of the century.

Inaugurating the silver jubilee celebrations of the Marine Products Export Development Authority in Kochi, Kerala, he said an awareness should be created among the people, especially among the bureaucrats, on the need for stepping up the country's export in the coming years.

Hegde said he had held detailed discussions with Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha on the steps to increase the exports and measures to check the negative growth in export trade noticed during June-July.

Countries like China, which also faced a negative growth in export trade during the period, mainly due to recession, had come out with remedial measures like cutting down the interest rates on export credit by six per cent.

Hegde admitted that cumbersome procedure and negative attitude of the bureacracy were some of the stumbling blocks in achieving higher exports.

UNI