Commerce Minister proposes 1,000-person regional language network to aid Indian exporters

At an industry forum on trade facilitation, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal outlined a plan to create roughly 1,000 trained regional-language officers to assist current and prospective exporters at district and state levels. Rather than setting up separate departmental offices everywhere, the ministry will establish integrated commerce and industry hubs in key cities to centralise access to government services. The language-savvy staff will be deployed through chambers of commerce and regional trade bodies, offering hands-on guidance on free-trade-agreement opportunities and compliance.

Suryansh Jalan, chief business officer of FarEye, stressed that while FTAs open markets, success depends on competitive pricing, reliable delivery and simple returns, which digital platforms and AI can help achieve. He called for better logistics integration, including shipment consolidation, streamlined customs, shared overseas warehousing and dependable last-mile delivery, building on existing policies such as the National Logistics Policy, PM GatiShakti and ULIP.