The search for new markets is an eternal one. Expanding the basket of products that can be exported is also very important to be competitive and to offset any drop-in demand for any other product. The economic climate in the State has been rather depressed with various sectors witnessing a drop-in business. In such a climate perhaps it makes sense to explore the possibility of exporting to new markets. Do Goan companies export in numbers and does the State have an export policy?

The State it must be said does not have an export policy though it has expressed an interest in formulating one. It perhaps makes sense considering the industry that dominated exports, mining is now silent thanks to a ban imposed by the Supreme Court. Total exports from September 2015 to November 2017 was 17.64 million tonnes to give readers an idea of the scale of the industry.

Now, beyond that, what. Goa exports products as diverse as spare parts for aircrafts, cashew, pharmaceuticals, optical fibres, contact lenses, instruments and apparatus for physical testing, telephone sets, insulated electric conductors, dried fruits and vegetables to cite a few.

The Herald spoke to people who are exporting and to those who were contemplating the possibility of exporting their products. Like any other place there are challenges. 

Arman Bankley, director of BNI Mathgram is involved in the exports of minerals. They are processors of manganese ore which is exported to African countries, South Korea and Germany. The company has been in business for 24 years and they have been exporting for 20 years. He uses the port services of Mormugoa port to send his containers.  

Mr Bankley said “It is not so difficult to export from here but there are some problems. We have to wait longer.  The ship sails for Colombo once a week on a Sunday. From Colombo it is transferred to the relevant ship. Sometimes we miss the ongoing ship and it is a problem. Sometimes the ship from Goa is delayed and it then comes once every ten days.” 

The costing he said did not permit him to transfer the containers from JNPT.  The big ships he said always docked at Navasheva but there was no service between Goa and Navasheva. An attempt had been made and it had worked wonderfully for him but the service was discontinued because there was not much of business from Goa. The Goa to Colombo service would stop of at Mangalore to pick up containers and then go on. All this he said took time. They were tied up by time and cost. Then there was the problem of GST. When the Herald spoke to him, he had just left customs house following a meeting. Exporters had not received their refund as yet because they were required to pay their taxes while exporting. They would then get a refund in a couple of weeks but this had not happened for a couple of months. Mr Bankley felt it was a teething problem and it would be sorted out shortly. The issue of the availability of vessels however needed to be sorted out.

Another executive in a company that exports goods said “Perhaps more ships will dock here when there are more containers to be picked up. Today it is not viable for shipping companies to dock in Goa. You have to also understand the biggest exporters in the State today are the pharma companies but they all export through Navasheva which they can afford to do. Transferring goods via road is always expensive. Most of the other companies cannot.”          

Chetan Lakhani of Dima Organics Pvt Ltd imports and exports Manganese Dioxide to South Korea and Bangladesh. Mr Lakhani said “I don’t have a problem exporting but it is now very difficult to access raw materials. I have to import Manganese Rose from Indonesia, Zambia, South Africa and Australia. I port at Marmugoa, it is very easy for small shipments. I am looking for new markets to export too and talks are on with Iran.”

According to industry veterans a delay by a day can cause a reduction of approximately 4.5% in the final share of exports. The cost of logistics in the entire process was way too high at 14% whereas in the top ranked countries in exports it was 8%. The government was working on reducing it to 9% by the year-end with the creation of new infrastructure.

To help boost exports, the State government will have to overhaul the logistics system in place and focus on the promotion of standards, ensure certification and traceability, improve export logistics, increase service exports, increase the value addition in the exports of goods and importantly ensure organic cultivation and certification.

The government at the centre is focussed on achieving a target of $ 900 billion by 2019 and increase the percentage of exports from 2 to 3.5%. Perhaps it would make sense for Goa to be part of that drive. It could perhaps look at Neethi Fernandes who creates in wood and many others like her in the State who are contemplating the idea of exporting to the other parts of the world. Perhaps an   aggressive drive by the relevant department in the state government could help them in their goals. At the end of the day everyone wins. The entrepreneur earns more bucks and the state more revenue by way of taxes.