Tamil Nadu - Chennai

“Foreign trade policy has failed to promote inclusive growth”

CHENNAI: The National Foreign Trade Policy has failed in its stated aim of promoting inclusive growth because of a centralised approach to policymaking, speakers at a discussion said on Wednesday.

Promulgated in 2004 by the UPA government, the policy was aimed at doubling India’s share in global trade and promoting inclusive growth by ensuring that the poor enjoyed the benefits of global trade. However, a study by the Citizen consumer and civic Action Group (CAG) has found that the poor had not reaped the benefits of the increase in export.

The study was conducted in eight States, and focussed on the handloom and marine sectors in Tamil Nadu.

P. Vanitha, project co-ordinator, CAG, said people had the perception that only the middlemen and rich traders reaped the benefits of the policy. There was very little economic transformation in the lives of the poor, and the promised employment had not been generated.

There was little awareness of the policy among the stakeholders, causing a large information gap.

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