Sitharaman invites suggestions for proposed FTP 2015-20

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SME Times News Bureau | 28 Jul, 2017
Minister for Commerce & Industry, Nirmala Sitharaman Friday expressed her appreciation of IIFT and of the young minds who join IIFT and undergo the academic rigours of the programme in their pursuit of excellence.

Sitharaman graced the 51st convocation of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, as the Chief Guest on 28th July, 2017, at New Delhi. Rita Teaotia, Chairman, IIFT and Secretary, Department of Commerce, Government of India, presided over the function, informed a press release on Friday in New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion, she expressed her pleasure that IIFT has expanded and it is soon to set up its 3rd campus at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh which also has a large SEZ. She pointed out that programmes in international business and trade are most relevant in today’s world. This is because though the euphoria of globalization did benefit different economies initially but gradually due to various reasons, economies found the gap between rich and poor not narrowing and economic prosperity not increasing as expected which has led to a tightening in the Global economy and increase in protectionism in different forms.

The Minister highlighted that while global strategic and political interactions have been studied in depth, global economic interactions need greater study and analysis, and that in this there is immense scope for India to build its capacity.

She emphasized the need for building multi-disciplinary experts with knowledge of international business trade, economics, and law to contribute to India’s world trade negotiations and pointed out that IIFT students can contribute in this area by further building on the knowledge and skills acquired at IIFT. She also invited suggestions from the graduating students on the proposed Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 which is due to be released in September 2017.

The Minister also pointed to the increasing importance of services which contributes 70% of GDP globally and recommended that more research should focus on the trajectory that trade in services is expected to take. She announced that India has presented a paper to WTO, on formulation of a trade facilitation agreement for services.

Talking about the growing shortage of good faculty for top Institutes like IIFT, Smt. Sitharaman suggested that cross pollination between industry, government officials and academia should be encouraged to bridge this gap.

Speaking on the occasion, the Commerce Secretary, Government of India, Rita Teaotia, congratulated the graduating students and appreciated that IIFT has equipped them well with both managerial skills and ethical values required to be successful managers and business leaders.

She emphasized that focus of higher education should be on rewarding knowledge, education and research. Skill India, Start up India and Digital India would play a key role in bridging the skill gap in the Indian economy she said and pointed out that creation of new knowledge and effective use of knowledge can be leveraged to allow traditional sectors to access wider markets.