Suggestion for women's say in FTA talks

New Delhi: Economic think tank ICRIER has suggested the government to include targeted measures in the forthcoming foreign trade policy to boost women's participation in global commerce and involve them as key stakeholders in consultations for free trade agreements (FTAs).

A policy brief Women and Trade: Towards an Enabling Ecosystem in India - brought out by Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) - has said that support for internationalisation of women-owned enterprises through targeted measures to boost women's participation in international trade has lagged. "It is recommended that the upcoming foreign trade policy... (can) be used to mainstream gender in the national trade agenda. "The recognition of the gender-specific impediments and vulnerabilities that women entrepreneurs face should be reflected in both the vision and strategy, with a holistic focus on export promotion, integration in global value chains, ease of doing business, and trade facilitation just as MSMEs have been explicitly acknowledged to have strategic significance, especially with regard to manufacturing and employment generation, and are accordingly identified for focussed interventions to boost exports," the council said in a statement.

The recognition of the gender-specific impediments and vulnerabilities that women entrepreneurs face should be reflected in both the vision and strategy, with a holistic focus on export promotion, integration in global value chains, ease of doing business, and trade facilitation

- ICRIER