Bhubaneswar: To bring all export related agencies under one roof, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Minister Prafulla Samal Saturday inaugurated the Raptani Bhawan at Indradhanu Market in Nayapalli area here.
Two government agencies – Directorate of Export Promotion and Marketing (EPM) and Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) – have already started functioning at the Raptani Bhawan.
Marine Products Exports Development Authority (MPEDA) and Office of Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), which have been allotted space by BDA at the building, will start functioning very soon.
With the opening and shifting of all export related organisations under a single roof, exporters will be able to get services at a common point, which in turn, will help boost exports, said Samal.
“Export growth of Orissa has been increased by 114 per cent during 2016-17, which was highest in the country. The Centre has also declared Orissa as the champion state. The target is now to touch export turnover to Rs 1 lakh crore before 2025,” he said.
The minister stated the state is going to have a New Export Strategy soon, which is being prepared in consultation with Centre-run FIEO.
Speaking on the occasion, MSME secretary LN Gupta said a trend of increase in Orissa export continues, which is reflected in the export turnover of nearly `26,000 crore by November 2017.
To further boost the export turnover from the state, new export strategy will be in place shortly, which will focus on improvement in standards of quality and products, value addition in traditional exportable products, products and market diversification, downstream and ancillarisation of industries, unleashing the potential of e-commerce and development of eco-tourism in the state, Gupta said.
He suggested that in order to improve the quality of products and services, MSMEs should register themselves under the Zero Effect-Zero Defect (ZEZD) programme offered by the Quality Council of India.
With the commencement of commercial operations by the Quality Control Laboratory of MPEDA and Testing Laboratory of Export Inspection Agency (EIA), standard and quality of exports would be improved further, he pointed out.
Software Technology Park of India (STPI) Director General Omkar Rai said there is a vast potential of IT and ITES services exports in the state. Last year, the IT & ITES export from the state was of the order of Rs 3,500 crore, which are likely to increase this year. Exports on IT & ITES sector till October 2017 was Rs 2,600 crore, he added.
PNN
