— Photo: Kamal Narang

SKY IS THE LIMIT: Newly sworn in Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh after assuming office in New Delhi on Tuesday.

New Delhi: The ``aam aadmi'' (common man) now looks set to walk into the Udyog Bhawan. Referring to the Congress party's election mascot, Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh says trade should now benefit the ``aam aadmi,'' especially in terms of providing more employment and giving a boost to agriculture.

Speaking shortly after assuming charge, he said a paradigm shift is needed in the trade policy to bring the benefits of exports down to the common man. Apart from helping agriculture and generating employment, he said the shift could also promote industrial clusters, regional development and provide value addition to the economy.

Highlighting the importance of viewing trade from the view of the internal rather than the external environment, he said the rationale for promoting exports had altered after the country became flush with foreign exchange reserves. It was now time to consider the impact of both imports and exports on the entire economy and ensure that pockets facing hardship were given support. For example, imports might hurt some segments such as fishermen and measures need to be taken to prevent such problems, he said. He also underlined the linkages that trade needs to have with agriculture.

In the global context, however, he stressed that India has to take care of its interests, especially at negotiations under the Doha round of the World Trade Organisation. India could not afford to be an aggressive player in agriculture like Brazil, Argentina and Australia. Livelihood issues had to be paramount as far as agriculture was concerned, he said. At the same time, he felt market opportunities needed to be explored globally for agriculture exports. The agro-export zones (AEZ) scheme was a mechanism to exploit these opportunities, he said.

On the need for regional development, he spoke of the vast potential for exploiting herbal medicine available, especially in the north-east region. He drew a parallel between Indian ayurveda and Chinese medicine for which there is a large global market.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail