Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Textiles and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal inaugurated the new corporate office building of Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC), at Andheri, Mumbai on Sunday.
Inaugurating the ECGC Bhawan, the Union Minister said, “As we are in our 75th year of independence, it is most appropriate that we must cross 750 billion dollars of exports this year.” “With great responsibility and confidence, I am happy to share that figures until February 2023 are already in excess of what we did in the whole of last year, and we will certainly close this year with well in excess of 750 billion dollars of exports, another all-time historical record,” he added.
The minister made a pitch for ECGC to become more modern and digital in its operations, leading to greater efficiencies, greater trust among exporters and improved performance.
He said, “We have to leave our children an India which is completely corruption-free. We have to be unsparing against anyone who indulges in any irregular activities. If we want to make India a superpower, we have to make a decision that we want the New India to be with a high degree of integrity, a collective endeavour of the government, industry, bodies like ECGC, EXIM Bank, and other stakeholders.”
“ECGC has to be very conscious of tracking what is happening, transparency in our working, ease in operations, being helpful, converting into online operations as much as possible. We should trust the exporter unless there is a reason not to trust someone and have completely digital online interactions with them, with transparent operations. I would urge ECGC to relook at all your processes. I would urge the industry to help us clean up the India story so that it is a story which the world will envy,” the union minister added.
The Commerce and Industry Minister complimented ECGC for innovative measures like the introduction of a policy where exporters with an export credit limit of Rs 20 crores are covered up to 90 per cent of their losses, which he said used to be 60 per cent earlier.
“All pending claims are now put out online transparently. As we inaugurate this truly world-class building, I would request the CMD ECGC to move the Rs 20 crore export limit to Rs 40 crore, so that sectors other than gem and jewellery and commodities sectors are covered under this expanded credit risk cover regime of 90 per cent for any potential risk or loss.”
“In return, we want the industry to assure full honesty and integrity in claims and in the way we work with ECGC. Gradually, we want all of you to enjoy the fruits of working with ECGC. We want more exports to enjoy these benefits, we cover around 22 – 25 per cent of merchandise exports, and we should aim to go up to around 50 per cent so that almost MSMEs can benefit from these schemes and enjoy lower interest rates,” he added.
The Minister urged ECGC to see what more we can do to promote exports, come up with new ideas, and become an important stakeholder in India’s journey to take our exports to 2 trillion dollars exports by 2030 – a trillion dollars of exports in services and in goods each.
He said, “Then, we can set other goals in line with the goals of a developed India, an India which will truly become a Vishwa Guru. As India prospers, the world will also prosper along with it.”
The Union Minister stated that the newly inaugurated Vanijya Bhawan in New Delhi is the beginning of how the Government of India is going to look across Ministries in Delhi.
“Visitors from all across the world including senior Ministers and Prime Ministers are all amazed when they see Vanijya Bhawan, to see how modern, digitalized, and efficient yet architecturally connected with India it is. This is the vision of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that our workplaces should define our work,” he said.
The Minister remarked that today, ECGC is showcasing to the world that they will work towards empowering enterprise expansion, encouraging business ideas, promoting business ideas beyond boundaries, and instituting a healthy business environment.
He said, “All these goals are reflected in the new office building we have joined to celebrate the inauguration of. The office is a reflection also of the new India which today contributes hugely to global growth and will continue to be the fastest-growing large economy for several decades to come. The New India has capabilities beyond imagination, where every young child is aspiring for a better quality of life.”
The minister highlighted the importance of international engagement, in order to become a developed nation.
“We have to look at greater international engagement because no country in the world has become a developed nation without engaging in a big way in international trade. We have to build up that culture of an economy and ecosystem which can work with the best in the world from a position of strength, with full self-confidence,” he said.
