CHENNAI, Jan 18:
Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu said today that various decisions of the central government, including demonetisation and GST, are likely to have a positive impact in the coming years.
“I am aware of the initial difficulties that the exporters have been facing due to these steps. However, I am sure they will be resolved soon,” he said.
The GST council would be addressing the concerns of the exporters, he said, advising them to focus on new markets and new products, including “sunrise products”.
Naidu was speaking at a function here to present the fourth and fifth set of Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Southern Region Export Excellence Awards.
“India’s exporters need to focus on new markets and products including sunrise products which show higher growth in global trade including electric, electronics and telecommunication equipments, apart from agro-processed food and labour intensive products,” he said.
Growth must be inclusive and the common man should stand to benefit, he said.
It must help the common man of the country and they should feel that they are part of the development process, he said.
Naidu said India is a prominent player in global trade in ancient times and everyone should collectively propel it again.
The Vice President said people should be open to learning many languages.
“Preference should be given to the mother tongue. However, people should also be ready to learn different languages and nothing should stop them from doing so.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Mann Ki Baat programme, has asked North Indian people to learn at least one south Indian language,” he said.
In his keynote address, Governor Banwarilal Purohit said the recent introduction of GST has been a morale booster in enabling seamless movement of goods across the country.
“Statistically speaking, the States in the southern region contribute nearly a quarter of the total exports and it is estimated that this will reach a figure of 30 per cent within the next five years,” he said.
Among the southern states, Tamil Nadu is the largest contributor, with almost half of the total exports of the southern infrastructure seeing considerable growth in exports in recent years, he said. (PTI)