L J Ravi 
Addressing the members of KASSIA at a Webinar on Awareness Programme on Export, Foreign Trade Policy and Procedures on October 15, Sri. J.V. Patil, Additional Director General, Foreign Trade, complimented Kassia for taking the initiative to organize the meeting at a challenging time for the benefit of their large number of member exporters.
He said that great opportunities exist to increase exports many fold from the state and it was necessary to focus on districts to exploit their great potential. This, he said, could only be done with the involvement of industry associations such as KASSIA. There was need to focus on infrastructure, logistics and coordinate effectively with the multiple agencies and regulators involved in order to make the overall operations efficient and productive.
As regards the various problems raised by members concerning EPCG, MEIS and other schemes, he said most processes were now online and every effort was made to smoothen the implementation at various levels. He assured that genuine issues of execution faced by exporters on the EPCG and the other schemes will be looked into and resolved. However, some of those fell under policy. He said the MEIS was to expire in December and alternatives were being evaluated. However, there were WTO commitments, which had to be kept in mind. The policy also was on extension till 2021, and a new one would be in place based on the experience so far.
Earlier, welcoming the guest, Sri. K.B. Arasappa, president thanked him for accepting the invitation to address at a difficult time. He said his presence and interaction with members would be very valuable for the exporters.
Sri. N.R.Jagadish, Hon.General Secretary, presented the memorandum detailing the problems raised by members.
Sri R.Kumar, Panel Chairman, gave a brief on the days program.
The meeting ended with the vote of thanks by Sri P.N.Jaikumar, Hon.Joint Secretary(Urban).
