INDIA’S SHARE IN WORLD EXPORTS INCREASES TO 0.8% -- ONE PER CENT SHARE POSSIBLE EVEN BEFORE TARGET DATE OF 2007

ARUN JAITLEY’S STATEMENT ON INDIA’S FOREIGN TRADE DATA 2002-03

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India’s share in world exports in merchandise goods has increased to 0.8% in 2002 from 0.4% in 1992-93 and 0.7% in 2001. If the present trend is maintained we might even reach 1% share in world exports before the target year of 2007, Shri Arun Jaitley, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Law & Justice, said while releasing India’s foreign trade data for the year 2002-03 here today.

India’s exports of merchandise goods during 2002-03 is valued at US $ 51.7 billion thereby crossing the crucial milestone of US $ 50 billion mark. With this achievement which implies a growth rate of 18.05%, we have exceeded the target of 12% fixed for 2002-03. This also implies that India has been able to more than double its exports of merchandise goods in a span of 10 years in dollar terms.

In Rupee terms, the exports of merchandise goods during 2002-03 is valued at Rs 250130 crore compared to Rs. 209018 crore in 2001-02 with a growth rate of 19.67%. In fact exports in Rupee terms has more than trebled over the past one decade.

Shri Jaitley said that India had achieved this at a time when the world economy was struggling to revive and even many of the developed countries found it difficult to achieve growth in their exports. As per the latest WTO report, for the calendar year 2002 India had achieved 15% growth rate in its export of merchandise goods and this growth rate is the second highest (next only to China at 22%) among the 30 leading exporters in world merchandise trade during 2002.

The export performance of many other countries has been either negative or in single digit during this period. For example, in 2002, USA's export performance is (-5%), Canada (-3%), Japan (3%), UK (1%), Hong Kong (5%), Korea (8%), Singapore (3%), Thailand (5%), and Indonesia (0%).

Quick Estimates – exports of Principal Commodities (2002-03)

The following Principal commodities of India’s exports have contributed to the high export growth during 2002-03 according to the Quick Estimates of DGCI&S, Kolkata:

Items Export growth

Marine products	13.1%
Gems & Jewellery	18.1%
Basic Chemicals	18.2%
Engineering goods	24.7%
Plastic & Linoleum	12.8%
RMG (Ready-made garments) of all textiles	6.9%
Manmade yarn, fabrics, made-ups etc	24.7%
Cotton yarn, fabrics, made-ups etc	5.7%
Iron ore	112.9%
Mica, coal & other ores	24.9%
Rice	47.6%
Petroleum products	8.9%
Spices	5.2%
Handicrafts	26%

Sector-wise performance (April-January, 2002-03)

The major sectors of India’s exports which have registered high growth rate during April-January are as under:

Sectors	% Growth
Agri. & allied products	13
Marine products	12
Ores & minerals	59
Gems & jewellery	22.4
Chemical & related products	17
Engineering goods	25

Destination-wise performance (April-January, 2002-03)

India’s exports to major destinations where high export growth rates have been registered during this period are given as under:

Destination	% Growth
USA	29
EU	15
UAE	33
Japan	24
China	96
Singapore	59

The role played by the government in the Department of Commerce in formulating schemes and programmes based on assessment of strategic alternatives has facilitated export growth and supplemented the efforts of the exporting community in a large measure, Shri Jaitley said.

On the outlook for 2003-04, the Minister informed that the Department of Commerce had already initiated consultations with the Export Promotion Councils, Commodity Boards and other agencies concerned with the export promotion efforts of the country. Commerce Secretary, Shri Dipak Chatterjee, he said, would be meeting the Heads of Export Promotion Councils and Commodity Boards on 6^th May 2003 in New Delhi wherein the perceptions of the Export Promotion Bodies would be elicited and an Action plan chalked out for the next year. Congratulating all those involved in the export promotion activity for the robust performance of exports in 2002-03, Shri Jaitley said that in line with the road map laid down in the Medium Term Export Strategy, the Exim Policy for 2003-04 announced this April contained fresh incentives for service exports besides initiatives on Agri Export Zones, operationalisation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) etc., as well as territorial initiatives like the launching of "Focus – CIS" programme.

Referring to the continuously changing and dynamic situation in world trade, Shri Jaitley said that his Ministry would keep a close watch on the global trade situation, try to anticipate to the best of our ability how the market will behave and adopt corrective measures and strategies quickly.