Trade advisory board meeting postponed to last week of Nov

The 45-member trade advisory board that includes industrialists Anand Mahindra and Pawan Munjal, was to meet on October 19 to discuss export scenario amid persisting sluggishness in the global economy.

While no reason was assigned for the postponement of the Board of Trade (BoT) meeting, sources said several corporate heads, who are non-official members on the board, would be out of country next week.

"As of now, no new date has been decided but it would be held sometime in the last week of November," a source said. The BoT is chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.

Originally the meeting was scheduled for June 14. The panel, which met last in August 2009 is mandated to meet every three months.

The meeting of BoT, a platform for direct interaction between industry and government, assumes importance against the backdrop of slow economic recovery in developed markets, a scenario which could hurt the reviving Indian exports.

ICICI Chief Chanda Kochhar and Chairman of HCL Technologies Shiv Nadar have been recently appointed on the influential panel, which would advise the Union government on trade policies, sources said.

Exports grew by 22.5 per cent to USD 16.64 billion in August, compared to the same period last fiscal. "The meeting, chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, is also considered important, as it provides a platform for direct interaction between the government and the industry," the source said.

Other non-official members on the board, include Biocon CMD Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Apollo Tyres CMD Onkar S Kanwar, Unitech CMD Ramesh Chandra and Dr Reddy's Lab MD K Satish Reddy.