Q: You have set a target to achieve $80 billion annual exports by 2007. That’s almost double the annual exports in 2001-2. How do you expect to attain that? Especially so since twice in the past targets of $80 export have been set and missed-once by CII in 1995 ($83 billion by 1999) and in 1998 by FIEO $100 b by 2001?
A: This time our target is to lift India’s share in global trade from 0.6 per cent to 1 per cent. That 1 per cent is not static, but will keep changing with the level of world exports.

Q: What have you done in the last 2-3 years and in this year’s exim policy to ensure this leap from $44 billion exports now to over $80 billion in five years?
A: Targets should not be like moons, but they should also not be very easy. We have to work hard. We also have a medium term export growth strategy in place (announced in January 2002), which shows that in some product categories even if exports rise by 5 per cent, we will achieve our 2007 target.

So far exporters were thought of as people with 3-piece suites and Rolls Royce cars. I have changed that perception by making exim policy a `people’s policy’. I have tried to help farmers, SSIs and artisans. From farmers to IIT graduates working with India’s best software companies, everybody should be encouraged to export.

Q: What specific products and markets you plan to concentrate in promoting exports?
A: In identifying products for export promotion we have studied India’s export basket as well as import basket of other countries. We have devised a strategy for focused export promotion of 220 products in 25 markets.

Q: What criteria were used in identifying markets?
A: EU, US and Japan account for 50 per cent of out exports. Efforts will continue to go deeper into these markets. But we are also diversifying our markets. We have programmes called Focus Africa and Focus CIS to push exports into these markets. Focus Latin America, which we launched 5 years ago, has had good results. Our exports to Latin America have grown by 50 per cent in 5 years.

Q: You are a great votary of Special Export Zones (SEZs) as a means for promoting exports. But past attempts at creating Free Trade Zones have had middling success…
A: We have announced a comprehensive and unique package for SEZs, which along with better infrastructure and less regulation also includes income tax benefits and off shore banking. Now we are second to none in SEZs. I am sure Sezs will act as magnet to attract FDI. Central government will have no role other than permitting investment in SEZs. State have a major role in developing them and I see a competition among states for developing SEZs. That’s a positive development. Maharashtra has acquired 4,000 hectare land for setting up a SEZ.

Each SEZs should have 10,000 people working which means about 30,000 (families included) people living in the zone. That’s a huge investment cannot be done overnight. In Tamil Nadu there are we SEZs with airstrips inside.

Q: What kind of labour laws will prevail in these SEZs?
A: We have requested states to declared units in SEZs as public utilities (implying that strikes can happen only with 60 days advance notice). We have also asked the development commissioner of SEZs to be granted the power of state’s labour commissioner. Andhra Pradesh has already done this. I think the SEZs will be laboratories for market economy and labour reforms in India.

Q: Why are we promoting SEZs in the times when the philosophy of economic reforms is to make the whole country economically efficient?
A: Turning the whole country into a SEZs is a very good objective, but will take ages. Besides India is not the only country to have SEZs. Australia has them and middle-east countries have them. There are more than 200 SEZs in the world.

Q: SSI reservation is said to be killing Indian exports.
A: The scale of operation is very important for profitability of exports. The finance minister has announced dereservation of some products. We have to tread gradually here. We can’t give a shock.

Q: More than two-thirds of global trade now happens amongst big MNCs and world over big companies are big exporters. But not in India.
A: About 50 per cent of India’s exports come from the so-called small scale industries. Big corporates have been basking under the sun of protection. But now they are realizing benefits of exports and beginning to compete.

Q: One of exporters’ big complaint is harassment at customs.
A: We have been working hard to remove such harassments. There are random checks of customs clearance process. This year we have done away with DEC logging requirement. So far every time we issued an advance licence we used to use to issue a Duty Entitlement Certificate (DEC) book. Every entry of exports and imports had to be physically logged into the book by the customs from the port of import or export. Licence used to be renewed only after DECs were audited by customs. Now the DEC has been scrapped.
We have taken a major step in moving from suspicion and doubt of exporters to trust and confidence of exporters. Now the ball in exporters’ court.

Q: Depreciation of the rupee has been used in the past to promote exports? Many experts have been critical of this. What is the current thinking in the ministry on the value of the rupee?
A: Exchange rate management is one of the instruments for influencing exports. But that is in the domain of the RBI. This year’s economic survey has said that the cumulative depreciation of the rupee between March 2000 and November 2001 has been 9.2 per cent. During the same period Indonesian rupiah has depreciated by 29 per cent, Philippines peso has fallen by 20 per cent and Thailand’s Baht by 14 per cent. Our exports seems to be adversely impacted from price competitiveness point of view.

Q: Do we need a separate policy on export of services?
A: My policy covers 161 services, which are covered under the GATT and are treated at par with merchandise exports.

Q: Does the fact that India is not a part of any regional trading block affects our exports.
A: We are called a region without regionalism. The SAFTA has not taken off. We are trying to have preferential trade agreement (PTA) and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Columbia, Egypt and Chile. About 60 per cent of the global trade today takes place between different trading blocks.

We need to have a give and take policy if we want to be a part in a strong trading block. We are having problems in free trade agreement with countries like Sri Lanka and Nepal. Mindset of the people is as important as the policies of the government.

Q: Where do you see Exim policy and commerce ministry going in future
A: We should become a totally free market economy. But even in US there is a commerce secretary and even that country is imposing safeguard duty. Besides, don’t forget that an event like September 11 can change the world trade completely.