Indian businesses can explore $112 billion export potential in ten countries if they use aggressive marketing strategies including government support, a study by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) revealed. The study stated that to capitalise on this potential in three years, there is a need for a proper strategy.
The study further suggested that the government should look into setting up a scheme to help the domestic industry take part in exhibitions, buyer-sellers meet, and roadshows in prominent cities of countries like the US and the UK, to promote Indian goods, reported PTI.
The body also said that Indian shows in these nations should look at identifying market access issues to help resolve these problems and to enable the promotion of shipments of domestic goods in these regions as non-tariff barriers impact exports. These Indian missions can also facilitate the industry to organise meetings with leading importers, the export body noted. It added that for the same, active print and electronic media campaigns could be considered to demonstrate the efficiency of domestic manufacturing capabilities in these nations.
The top ten countries that the study identified with untapped export potential worth $112 billion are the US ($31 billion), China ($22 billion), UAE ($11 billion), Hong Kong ($8.5 billion), Germany ($7.4 billion), Vietnam ($9.3 billion), Bangladesh ($5 billion), the UK ($5.4 billion), Indonesia ($6 billion), and Malaysia ($5.8 billion).
The study further noted that Indian exports have seen their demand impacted due to a global slowdown, surge in interest rates, and increased inflation, and as such it stated that it is crucial to focus on the untapped potential. It highlighted that there is a scope to increase exports of domestic products such as diamonds, vehicles, jewellery, electronic items, auto components, marine products, apparel, insecticides, iron and steel, tea, coffee, and others, to these ten nations.
Elaborating on specific products, the FIEO in it’s study stated that there is a massive potential for the export of diamonds ($3.7 billion), motor vehicles ($2.2 billion), jewellery ($1.4 billion), telephone sets, and other voice/image transmission apparatus ($1.3 billion) into the US. For China, products like motor vehicles, auto parts, jewellery, bovine meat, shrimp, human hair, pepper, granite, castor oil, and aluminium, have massive potential in exports. Similarly, for Germany, products like aluminium, coffee, apparel, cashew nuts, motor vehicles, and jewellery can be explored, while the export of diamonds, jewellery, shrimp, wooden furniture, rice, black tea, turbojets, auto components, sandstone, and baby garments can be increased for the UK. The export of products like iron and steel items, raw cane sugar, auto components, insecticides, aluminium alloys, copper cathodes, shrimp, and pharma products, has great potential for Indonesia and Malaysia.
The report added that growth in exports leads to an increase in employment generation, helps push domestic manufacturing, and boosts foreign exchange earnings for the country. As such, the government has been undertaking measures to increase India’s exports and targets to grow the goods and services exports to $2 trillion by the end of the decade. The exports for the 2022-23 year stood at $776 billion.