new delhi: a new five-year export andimport policy for 2002-07 will be announced on march 31 by commerce and industryminister murasoli maran. the minister, presiding over a three-hour-long meetingof the board of trade on the forthcoming policy here on saturday, indicated thatthe policy would aim at making export hassle-free and ensure greater involvementof the states in the national export drive. the meeting, attended by seniorofficials from various ministries and representatives of trade and industry,threw up several suggestions for incorporation into the policy. ramu s deora,satish dhandha and rafeeque ahmed underlined the importance of undertaking amassive publicity campaign in identified overseas markets over the next fiveyears. they felt that the market access initiative scheme and the india brandequity fund could be clubbed for optimum results. most trade and industryrepresentatives including ficci president r s lodha suggested the continuationof the duty entitlement pass book (depb) scheme, which served the useful purposeof making available imported inputs to exporters duty-free. cii director generaltarun das suggested integration of tariff policy and exchange rate policy withthe commerce ministry’s intervention to improve competitiveness of indianindustry.
