BHUBANESWAR: Despite Odisha’s huge potential in export, the State is lagging behind many others due to lack of infrastructure support, opined Principal Secretary of MSME department Satyabrata Sahu.
Speaking at the Regional Workshop on Export Promotion here on Wednesday, he said a Joint Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Office at Bhubaneswar, direct air connectivity to foreign countries, availability of shipping liners at Paradip Port and development of other ports will help boost exports from the State.
The ports at Paradip, Gopalpur and Dhamra will not only enhance exports from Odisha but also cater to the needs of land-locked states like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and the North East region, he said.
Chairman of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), New Delhi M Angamuthu emphasised on export target of 400 billion dollar from the country in the current fiscal. “While export of rice contributes around 40 per cent of the total global trade, there is a huge potential for export of agriculture and marine products in Odisha,” he said.
Development Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena stressed coordination between the Centre and State to achieve the objective of five trillion dollar economy and said startups will be an important instrument for economic growth. Highlighting the State’s potential and steps taken to attract investments, Principal Secretary of Industries Hemant Sharma said Odisha is very proactive in industrialisation and upgradation of infrastructure has been its constant endeavour. “The sea food park and IT park at Bhubaneswar along with the testing laboratories are the recent initiatives taken by the government,” he said.
Economic Advisor of Department of Commerce at the Centre C Vanlalramsanga said though India’s merchandise export is growing at a higher growth in the post-pandemic period, its share in international trade is only 1.7 per cent which shows there is a tremendous scope for merchandise export from the country.
Delegates from Eastern and North East region like Assam, Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland participated. WODC chairman Asit Tripathy, Handlooms and Textiles Secretary Sobha Sarma and APEDA Director Tarun Bajaj also spoke.