On the heels of the positive export figures for November, the Government said on Wednesday that it may announce, by early January, sops for certain sectors that have been adversely affected by the slump in global demand.
“The growth is satisfactory despite the global slowdown. Also, the sectoral reviews are over and whatever recommendations the Government gets, it will act on them.
“For those sectors which want help, we will see what is required to be done,” said Mr Anand Sharma, Minister of Commerce and Industry. He added that it would definitely be done by the first week of January.
The Minister was speaking on the sidelines of ‘The Singapore Symposium', a CII event.
Stabilising
Talking about the positive export numbers, Mr Sharma said that exports seem to be stabilising and there is optimism that growth would continue.
“Last month, the negative growth had come to single digits, which was very encouraging. Efforts are on with the Export Promotion Councils to ensure that we move on to positive growth in the last quarter of the fiscal,” he said.
After dropping by about 40 per cent in May this year, exports finally entered the positive zone in November, posting 18 per cent growth at $13.2 billion as against $11.16 billion in the same month last year.
The Revenue Secretary, Mr Rahul Khullar, however, said this was due largely to the extremely low base of the previous year, adding that it is too early to say that the rough period is over. Later speaking at the same event, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Minister Mentor, Republic of Singapore, stressed on infrastructure development as a primary focus area for India, if it was looking to become an economic might in the near future.
‘Cut red tape'
“You [India] can do better if you cut the red tape, free controls, get infrastructure in place. You need connectivity within India and get the logistics right first. Only then will you attract FDI, get millions of jobs and the economy will be transformed,” he said.
India and china
Responding to how he views India and China's rise as powerful economies given their bilateral concerns, he said, “Trade and investment will increase, but strategic differences will remain. In the near future, I see no strategic conflict.”
Responding to a question on Singapore acting as a catalyst for Sino-Indian bilateral relations, given the island nation's mix of citizens of both ethnicities, he said if big powers such as the US and European nations could not help, a small country like Singapore is least likely to have any effect.
Source : Business Line