Stranded at the Docks

On an average, 16,000 tons of frozen shrimp from around 1,000 containers exported from India were stranded at the Chinese ports earlier this week. This mishap was the result of Chinese officials suspecting covid-19 virus traces on the outer packaging of the commodity, jolting deals worth approximately Rs. 1200 crore.

Speaking of trade deals, India appears to have taken the first step in the framework of ‘Roadmap 2030’ --the diplomatic strategy that is being negotiated between India and the UK, with foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla planning to visit the country and discuss bilateral ties. Since the past decade, India’s hold in the global textile market has weakened drastically due to high costs and the lack of free trade agreements (FTAs). We hope that the upcoming FTA with the UK will allow the textile sector to climb back to the top and compete with the rival markets of Vietnam and China.

Moreover, according to the latest UN Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation, which tracked 143 economies on 58 parameters based on trade facilitation, India’s position boosted from 78.49% in 2019 to 90.32% in 2021. Experts believe such a high ranking will help India become a key business destination and capture a larger pie of the global supply chain of goods and services.

India has improved its score in ease of cross-border trade: UN

India has made noticeable progress in ease of cross-border trade, a UN survey, which tracked 143 economies on key trade facilitation parameters over a two-year period, said. According to the latest UN Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation, India’s rank moved up from 78.49% in 2019 to 90.32% in 2021. The biannual survey deals exclusively with trade facilitation measures taken up by countries.

Foreign secretary Shringla to begin 2-day UK visit, roadmap 2030 on agenda

Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla is set to embark on a two-day visit to the United Kingdom (UK) on Friday to further India's bilateral ties with the nation as per Roadmap 2030, a 10-year diplomatic coordination strategy between New Delhi and London, the Union ministry of external affairs (MEA) said. According to an official release, the foreign secretary will discuss a host of issues with his counterparts in the UK, including the implementation of the said roadmap and the evolving situation in Afghanistan.

1,000 shrimp containers stuck in Chinese ports, half of them from Andhra Pradesh

Anywhere between 1,000 to 1,200 containers of shrimp exported from India are now stranded in the Chinese ports, locking up monetary transactions worth Rs 1,200 crore approximately. Reason: China suspects coronavirus traces on the outer packaging of the frozen shrimp exported from India. Each of these containers on an average has 16 tonnes of frozen shrimp. These exports belong to 50 seafood export companies from the country and of them, 25 are from Andhra Pradesh.

With more corpus, RoDTEP to pack more punch

The Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme is likely to get more attractive for beneficiary exporters as the garments and made-ups sectors are no longer competing for the limited funds available. The outlay, too, is set to be increased, an official tracking the matter has said.

India’s share in global exports of textile shrinks due to high cost, lack of FTAs

The share of the textile sector in the total Indian merchandise exports declined from 24 per cent in 2001 to 11 per cent in 2020. Cotton yarn contribution in Indian export basket declined during the same period from 2 per cent to approximately 1 per cent, and Ready Made Garments (RMG) share of exports declined from 11 per cent to 4 per cent.