Piyush Goyal launched the Trade Connect ePlatform for small and medium-sized traders

The Trade Connect ePlatform was launched by Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to encourage small and medium-sized traders to participate in exports by increasing the number of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and startups.

The platform allows Indian exporters and entrepreneurs to connect

According to the minister, dealers would be able to access the platform within the next three to four months.

A senior official described Trade Connect ePlatform as an intermediary platform that allows Indian exporters and entrepreneurs to connect with different foreign trade stakeholders.

The minister stated that dealers will have access to the platform within the next three to four months.

According to a senior official, Trade Connect ePlatform is an intermediate platform that offers the ability to link Indian exporters and entrepreneurs with different players in international trade.

The platform will provide access to important information for MSME

According to the official, the portal will also assist new exporters in gaining access to important data and chances for MSME traders, which are difficult for small traders to obtain because of their limited understanding of the mechanism.

According to the aforementioned official, the platform will be made so that anyone may access all the data for export promotion initiatives, including the contact information for each resource person.

The minister made this declaration during the second meeting of the newly formed Board of Trade (BOT), which took place on Tuesday at the Bharat Mandapam.

Notably, the Council for Trade Development and Promotion was merged with BOT to form the organization. Its inaugural meeting took place on September 13, 2022, and it provides advice to the government on trade-related policy actions.

Goyal emphasized at the conference how important it is to internationalize goods and services to boost the size of the economy and help improve product quality.

The minister also underlined the importance of turning exports into a movement led by the people, with equal participation from all important parties like the states, the central government, and businesses.

$2 trillion export goal by 2030

Reviewing export performance to fulfill the $2 trillion export goal by 2030, identifying objectives for the new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023, and deciding on strategies and actions to advance export growth were the main topics of discussion at the Board of Trade meeting.

Arun Kumar Garodia, the chairman of the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC), made several recommendations during the meeting, including bringing additional steel goods under the export parity pricing system, remitting duties and taxes on exported products (RoDTEP), and connecting waterways with ports.

According to data from the commerce ministry, India's goods trade has been increasing as a result of an increase in exports in December, which caused the goods deficit to close by almost 4% in December compared to November.

After rising to $20.58 million in November, the merchandise trade deficit decreased to $19.80 billion in December due to a spike in exports of iron ore, medicines, and electronic goods.

While slightly down from $28.69 billion in November to $27.88 billion in December, service exports were still higher than imports, which dropped from $13.40 billion to $13.25 billion in the previous month.