Assam set to have India’s first International Multi-Modal Hub October 18 , 2019

GUWAHATI: Assam Industry Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said that the State is all set to have India''s first International Multi-Modal Hub recently.

He also said that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to fund the project at an estimated cost of around Rs 600 crore.

"The Government of Assam is planning to develop Jogighopa, a small township near Brahmaputra river, as a logistics hub or Transshipment point for cargo moving from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland to Bangladesh," he said, while talking to reporters.

In addition, the Munshiganj River Terminal in Bangladesh will be used as a Customs station to handle third-party export and import cargo via Kolkata Port.

"To bring about a significant reduction in logistics cost and faster delivery of Bangladesh export cargo, the Indian side have raised the point regarding permitting a third Country export-import trade under the Coastal Shipping agreement and protocol on inland water transit and trade (PIWTT) by allowing trans-shipment through ports on the East Coast of India," he said.

"The Bangladesh Government agreed to hold stakeholder consultations and revert on the matter," he added.

"Increasing connectivity through air, water, rail, road offer mutually beneficial opportunity for enhancing economic cooperation between Bangladesh and the Northeastern States of India and beyond," Patowary said.

"Standard operating procedures for the use of Chattagram and Mongla Ports for movement of goods to and from India, particularly to and from the Northeast of India has recently been concluded and it is expected that it

FIEO delegation to visit Kenya, Ethiopia in November to boost exports opportunities

CHENNAI: A high level 37 member FIEO business delegation led by 

Mr. Israr Ahmed, Regional Chairman, FIEO Southern Region will be visiting Nairobi and Addis Ababa from 17 to

22 November, 2019 to explore business opportunities in Agriculture, Machineries and Food Processing sector.

The program is organised with the support of International Trade Centre (ITC) Geneva.  Apart from scheduled Business to Business meetings, the delegation will visit major Special Economic Zones, Plug and play facilities, etc available in both the countries.

The delegation also will be participating in the World Export Development Forum (WEDF) being organised at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia by ITC Geneva organised a the part of Africa Industrialisation week, hosted by the African Union Commission and Department of Trade and Industry, Ethiopia FIEO is taking the delegation in the background of building on the momentum of the newly ratified African Continental Free Trade Area. 

The business delegation also aims to provide cutting-edge machinery for food processing, storage and packaging solutions for a variety of agricultural products to Africa.

Mr. Israr Ahmed, Regional Chairman, FIEO Southern Region said, “At a time when trade tensions and escalating, protectionism are undermining the rules based multilateral system, by initiating this delegation, FIEO intend to help in diversification of trade to unexplored African countries.”

Mr. Israr Ahmed stated: “Trade between Africa and India has increased more than eight-fold from US$7.2 billion in 2001 to US$62.5 billion in 2018, making India Africa’s fourth-largest national trading partner, accounting for more than 6.4 percent of total African trade in 2018, up from 

2.7 percent in 2001. The business-to-business matchmaking platform in Kenya and Ethiopia will offer Indian delegates the opportunity to forge new business deals in agribusiness and also help MSME in strengthening their abilities in complying with standards, technical regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, etc.”

NYK completes World’s first autonomous ship trial voyage from China to Japan

TOKYO: Japan’s NYK has completed a trial on the world’s first autonomous ship, a 70,826-tonne pure car truck carriers (PCTC) Iris Leader, sailing from China to Japan.

Using the Sherpa System for Real ship (SSR) navigation system, the Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship (MASS) trial was performed from 14-17 September from China’s Xinsha to Japan’s Nagoya, and then from Nagoya to Yokohama from 19-20 September.

During the trial, the SSR’s performance in actual sea conditions was monitored as it collected information on environmental conditions around the ship from existing navigational devices, calculated collision risk, automatically determined optimal routes and speeds that were safe and economical, and then automatically navigated the ship.

“Using data and experience gained through this trial but not obtainable through onshore simulators, NYK was able to ensure the feasibility of the SSR and its benefit for safe and optimal operations. This trial was a big step toward realizing NYK’s goal of manned autonomous ships,” NYK stated.

“NYK will analyse the data and continue to develop the SSR into a more advanced navigation-support system by making adjustments to the difference between the optimal course derived by the program and that determined by professional human judgment,” it added.

The SSR can become a basic technology for remote and unmanned navigation. The SSR verified by this trial will be applied to future coastal ships, which currently faces serious crew shortages, NYK highlighted.

“NYK’s aim of manned autonomous ships that will make use of advanced technologies and remote support from office to support ship operation and enhance safety,” NYK said.

This trial follows the autonomous ship trial guidelines that the IMO has outlined in June 2019, and it is conducted with approval from the Panama flag state.

Centre to bring law to fix minimum distance between Ports

NEW DELHI: The Government will soon bring a law, which will empower the Centre to fix minimum distance between two ports or to alter the limits of any port in the Country.

In recent years, competing ports have come up close to each other and it has become a major cause of concern, particularly for the Government-owned ports. Ensuring minimum distance will help Major Ports under Government compete with the private ones in the region.

“The New Indian Ports Bill will also specify the minimum quality standards or facilities that every new port has to ensure. The other features will include simplifying the regulatory and administrative mechanism for the ports, fixing of port charges and tariff,” said a Government official.

The issue was discussed in detail with the representatives from States who agreed to set up a panel which will finalise the draft Bill for Government’s consideration.

The proposed law will be applicable to all the 13 Major Ports (owned by Central Government) and other Non-Major Ports (under State Government or with private players) across the Country.

The proposal to set up the panel to look into all aspects is significant considering that some of the Maritime States had earlier opposed a similar Bill in 2011 when the Centre had moved a proposal to amend the Indian Port Act, 1908. They had alleged that the Centre was trying to usurp the powers of State Governments.

Officials also said that the Shipping Ministry will introduce the Major Port Authorities Bill during the winter session of parliament, which will give more freedom to the Major Port Chairmen to take decisions considering the prevailing business condition and to improve efficiency.

 

India seeks safeguards in China-led trade pact

BANGKOK: India wants safeguards to be built into a China-led trade pact to prevent a sudden surge in imports, the Commerce Ministry said recently as a new round of talks begin in Thailand.

 Negotiators for the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are in Bangkok this week for talks aimed at finalising the giant free trade zone by the end of the year.

Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has been holding talks to allay fears of a flood of Chinese imports if New Delhi joined the agreement, the Ministry said.

The focus and emphasis of the meetings chaired by the Commerce and Industry Minister was on putting in place appropriate safeguards including auto-trigger mechanism against sudden surge in imports from RCEP countries, it said in a statement.

India and China signs 120 MoUs for exports to China

NEW DELHI: Private companies from India and China signed more than 120 MoUs for export of various products from India, including sugar, chemicals, fish, plastics, pharmaceuticals and fertilisers recently. “China is working to bring down its trade surplus with India. In the first eight months of this year, India’s trade deficit went down by 1.6 per cent to $37.9 billion,”

Zhu Xiaohong, Counsellor, Embassy of China, pointed out at the India-China Business Meeting & Signing Ceremony organised by FICCI.

Modi and Xi held the second India-China Informal Summit on October 11-12.

Over 60 Chinese entrepreneurs from 34 sectors will carry out trade promotion activities in India; these enterprises have formalised trade agreements with orders of about $100 million, pointed out, Liu Changyu, Deputy Director General, Foreign Trade Department of Ministry of Commerce.

India’s trade deficit with China fell to $53 billion in 2018-19 from over $60 billion a year ago, but it still accounts for almost a third of India’s overall trade deficit.

Zhu said that attract Chinese customers, India needs to focus on compatibility, competitiveness, creativity and cooperation. “Chinese consumers want products that are competitive. Also products lacking innovation cannot succeed in the Chinese market,” he cautioned.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce is willing to strengthen cooperation with departments in India to improve economic and trade development, said Liu. “Chinese enterprises have responded to the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ campaigns and their investment in India has exceeded $8 billion,” he said.

“In the next 15 years, China will import $30 trillion of goods and $100 billion of services from the world. As the only two major developing countries with a population of over 1 billion, China and India are focussing on development,” he said.

Global Value Chains can help Developing Countries in better growth outcomes: World Bank

GENEVA: In an era of slowing trade and growth, developing countries can achieve better outcomes for its people through reforms to boost their participation in global value chains, according to a latest World Bank report.

In the report titled “World Development Report 2020: Trading for Development in the Age of Global Value Chains” that was released recently,

the bank argues that these reforms can help developing countries expand from commodity exports to basic manufacturing, while ensuring that economic benefits are shared more widely across society.

“Global value chains have played an important part in the growth, by enabling firms in developing countries to make significant gains in productivity, and by helping them transition from commodity exports to basic manufacturing,” World Bank Group Chief Economist Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg said.

She said that in the age of global value chains, all countries have much to benefit by speeding up reforms that increase commerce and boost growth.

The global value chains today account for nearly 50 per cent of trade worldwide, the World Bank said in its report.

“But their growth has plateaued since the financial crisis of 2008,” it said.

According to the report, creation of the European single market—together with the integration of China, India, and the Soviet Union into the global economy—created huge new product and labour markets, and so firms could sell the same goods to more people and take advantage of economies of scale leading to the further deepening of GVCs.

The report highlights the steps countries can take to attract GVC investments, even if they have been largely left out of the value chain revolution.

Small steps—such as speeding up customs and reducing border delays—can yield big benefits for countries making the transition from commodity exports to basic manufacturing.

“For many goods traded in global value chains, a day’s delay is equal to imposing a tariff in excess of one

per cent. In addition, investments that improve connectivity by modernising communications and roads, railways, and ports can yield large benefits,” it said.