FOREIGN TRADE POLICY 2023

The FTP 2023 emphasizes trade facilitation with the help of technology and digitisation. It seeks to promote e-commerce and aims to facilitate exports through various schemes and measures. The emphasis on e-commerce and 'Local goes Global' highlights the inclusive approach of this policy.

- Manish Rishishwar & Surbhi Arora

In the world today, there is no country which produces all the things that it needs. Thus, every country produces those commodities in which it has a comparative advantage and exchanges some commodities with the commodities produced by other countries.

The relative differences in geographical conditions, technology, resource availability, tastes etc. have paved the way for international trade worldwide.

The foreign exchange earned by exchanging commodities can be used for buying the commodities which are required by the country. Foreign trade also increases the scale of production and the national income of the country.

However, foreign trade cannot be left on its own. The government needs to intervene and look at the interest of the country first. In India, Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles launched the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 on 31st March 2023. He mentioned that it is a dynamic policy and has been kept open-ended to accommodate the emerging needs of the time. He stated that the policy had been under discussion for a long time and had been formulated after multiple stakeholder consultations.

The previous foreign trade policy for 2015-2020 had targeted exports of USD 900 billion by 2020. This target was extended along with the policy for three years till March 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the volatile geo-political scenario.

FTP 2023 is based on these 4 pillars:

(i) Incentive to Remission,

(ii) Export promotion through collaboration -Exporters, States, Districts, Indian Missions,

(iii) Ease of doing business, reduction in transaction cost and e-initiatives, and

(iv) Emerging Areas – E-Commerce Developing Districts as Export Hubs and streamlining SCOMET policy.