Dear Ambassadors, Ball is in your Court

 

 

It seems that our Prime Minister Shri Modiji wants YOU to act as , not only our political representatives but also as “  Ace Sales Men “, for goods / services that India produces and wants to export

Context :

Commerce Ministry to fix Export Targets for Foreign Missions to accelerate Growth

 ( Business Line  /  16 Aug 2021 )

 

Extract :

Ø  The Commerce & Industry Ministry plans to rope in the country’s various embassies and consulates overseas to contribute towards reaching overall export targets – tentatively fixed at $ 400 billion in the current fiscal and $ 1 trillion over the next 5 / 6 years – by giving them INDIVIDUAL sub-targets to meet, based on assumed potential

Ø  The idea is to fix an EXPORT TARGET for the Foreign Missions so that each has a GOAL to pursue

Ø  A detailed exercise has been carried out by the Commerce Ministry , analysing the MARKET SHARES and TRENDS, in the last five years and the POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES for increasing exports

Ø  Based on the analysis, Export Targets are being disaggregated,

#  Product wise

#  Country wise

#  Region wise

Ø  The Ministry of External Affairs ( MEA ) has been doing its bit in helping exporters find larger markets through its missions and posts but FIXING a GOAL will help channelize their efforts

Ø  There is a need for coordination with the Commercial wings of our embassies and consulates so that they know EXACTLY where to put in efforts to get the maximum benefits and reach their GIVEN TARGETS

Ø  The Commerce and Industry Ministry can certainly help them be more FOCUSSED and GOAL-ORIENTED

Ø  The Commerce & Industry Ministry, in collaboration with the MEA, hopes to soon have ALL foreign missions on board with their INDIVIDUAL EXPORT TARGETS and plans of HOW TO MEET THEM

My Take :

 

Only yesterday, from the ramparts of Red Fort, Shri Modi said :

 सबका साथ , सबका विकास , सबका विश्वास , सबका प्रयास

I would like to think that he found time to read, my following e-mail :

A Cold-Calling Commerce Minister of Canada  /  ( 10 Aug 2021 )

 

Extract :

 

Some 42 years ago , when I was General Manager ( Powai Works / Mumbai ) , at Larsen & Toubro , I had an opportunity to host a lunch for the Commerce Minister of Canada

 After lunch , the Minister pulled out 4 / 5 small , neatly labelled glass bottles from his brief case

 Each bottle contained samples of crude oil from different oil fields of Canada

 Minister went on to explain :

 *      Chemical Composition / Specific Gravity /  Quality of each sample ( eg:

        Sulphur content / Sweet / Sour  etc )

*      Daily Output of each field ( Barrels / day )

*      Spot Market prices / Long Term Contract rates

*      Delivery Commitments.... etc

Then , he went ahead to distribute to L&T executives present , brochures of the private Canadian Companies , engaged in exploration / production of Crude Oil in Canada

And answered every single question with the knowledge of an ace  SALESMAN  of those companies !

There was no doubt, he firmly believed that his primary job while travelling abroad, was to " SELL  CANADA " !

Dear Shri Narendrabhai,

I urge you to forward this incidence to all of our Ambassadors / High Commissioners / Consul Generals / Mission Heads / Trade Representatives etc. , all over the World and tell them :

“  I expect you to do one better than the Canadian Commerce Minister .

Please carry with you a laptop on which you can show to any potential customer ( in the country of your posting ), full details of any Indian Product that he might be interested – along with the CONTACT details of all the Indian manufacturers of that product

And, if that potential foreign customer wants more details ( price – quality – delivery etc ), then , on-the-spot, PHONE that company Chairman / MD , asking him / her to e-mail the requested details to that customer , with a copy to yourself , for follow up “

 

It is commendable that Commerce Ministry, has fixed Export Targets, Product-wise / Region-wise / Country-wise

However, in order to help the Ambassadors, the Commerce Ministry needs to develop a DIGITAL PLATFORM having,

      #   Searchable DATABASE of all Indian Companies (detailing their

           PRODUCTS – SERVICES ) and

           

     #   MULTI-WAY messaging system between Ambassadors / Foreign

          Importers / Indian Exporters / Officers of MEA & Comm Ministry /

          State Industries Ministers

          

      #  Google Meet / Zoom like , multi-user Video-Conferencing facility,

          with automatic “ speech-to-text “ conversion feature to generate

          “ Inquiry-wise History Log “ ,accessible to the officers of MEA /

          Commerce Ministry

         

          

This will enable “ Business @ the Speed of Thought “  ( Bill Gates / 01 Mar 1999 )

 

“ In his new book, Microsoft chairman and CEO Bill Gates discusses how technology can help run businesses better today and how it will transform the nature of business in the near future. Gates stresses the need for managers to view technology not as overhead but as a strategic asset, and offers detailed examples from Microsoft, GM, Dell, and many other successful companies.

I urge Shri Piyush Goyalji to send this book to all of our Ambassadors, asking them to read following pages :

13 – 18 – 19 – 39 – 48 - 53 – 59 – 67 – 75 – 112 – 116 – 135 – 149 – 203 – 204 – 218 – 224 – 247 – 269 – 277 – 284 – 298 – 311 – 344 – 383 – 429

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 17 Aug 2021

 

RELATED LINKS :

India can't become world's next factory by copying China: Amitabh Kant 

( Business Standard / 12 Aug 2021 )

Extract :

Ø  Citing the NITI Aayog’s analysis, Kant said Europe and America together will import close to 500 gigawatts of green hydrogen and green ammonia. “India should target to export at least 200 gigawatts of this green hydrogen and green ammonia by 2030.”