Goyal bats for common Brics trade platform, women-focused fund

New Delhi: Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday called for a common Brics trade platform to help small and women-led enterprises access buyers and markets across member countries. He also urged the emerging markets’ bloc to turn its proposed Women’s Advancement Fund into a concrete initiative.

Speaking at the Brics Women’s Business Alliance Women-Led Development Conference ahead of the grouping’s summit in New Delhi, Goyal said that entrepreneurs seeking to enter international business face three key barriers: access to credit, access to buyers and markets, and predictable rules for doing business.

“Foreign trade should not be viewed only as a collateralized business,” Goyal said, arguing that trade should create opportunities for entrepreneurs and businesses that may otherwise not be able to access the overseas markets.

Goyal referred to the Brics Commerce and Industry Ministers’ meeting in Jaipur last month, where members agreed to explore a common platform for international trade. Such a platform, he said, could allow businesses in one member country to see product requirements in another market, while invoices raised between participants could also be made available.

He said financial intermediaries could participate in such a system to support women and small entrepreneurs as intra-Brics trade expands.

On the Women’s Advancement Fund, emphasized in the Jaipur Consensus, he said it should be taken up as a concrete initiative and urged the Brics Women’s Business Alliance and the Brics Business Council to ensure that ongoing work on an invoice-discounting platform reflects the requirements of women exporters.

Goyal called upon governments, banks and export-import banks to consider such invoices when taking lending decisions, highlighting access to credit as one of the key constraints for smaller exporters.

On market access, he urged Brics countries to increase the participation of women-owned enterprises in exhibitions, fairs, business forums and buyer-seller meets. He proposed sector-specific, women-led business delegations among member nations—for instance, delegations focused entirely on textiles—to help integrate value chains and create opportunities beyond Brics markets.

Pushing for greater predictability in cross-border trade, he called upon members to work towards electronic trade documentation, including e-invoices, electronic bills of lading and e-customs declarations. He also highlighted voluntary principles agreed by Brics members to facilitate online delivery of services across borders while respecting national laws.

The minister said services trade among Brics countries had not received sufficient attention, despite global services trade being worth nearly $10 trillion. He said there was significant scope for these emerging economies to expand services trade, particularly in areas linked to the digital economy, mobility and other services where women entrepreneurs and micro, small and medium enterprises could participate.

Financial inclusion

Highlighting India’s experience in expanding financial inclusion among women, he said nearly 300 million bank accounts had been opened for women and that around 100 million rural women are now members of nine million self-help groups, small cooperatives or other women-led groups.

Around 30 million women now earn more than ₹1 lakh in personal income and are being referred to as ‘Lakhpati Didis’. India has also provided around 560 million loans to small entrepreneurs, with more than 68% going to women entrepreneurs, according to Goyal.

The minister said India’s approach was shifting from viewing women merely as beneficiaries of government programmes to recognizing them as “architects of New India.” He said increasing women’s participation in the formal workforce could provide a significant additional economic boost.

Citing the government’s One District, One Product initiative, under which products from districts are being promoted for global markets, and said the initiative was increasingly expanding into services. He said local products, services and even cuisines could become potential export opportunities.

He highlighted opportunities for small farmers and women entrepreneurs in areas such as packaging, processing and designing of fresh Indian fruits and vegetables for overseas markets, particularly in the Gulf region.

Goyal said Brics members had committed to protecting and strengthening the multilateral trading system within World Trade Organization rules and that greater engagement among member countries could help expand trade in both goods and services.

Brics trade ministers have recommended the strategy for Brics Economic Partnership 2030 for endorsement by the leaders, Goyal said, expressing hope that the Brics Leaders’ Summit would produce more concrete agendas, action plans and outcomes.

He set out 2030 as an initial milestone for deeper economic cooperation and said India was targeting an expansion of its economy from about $4 trillion currently to $30 trillion by 2047.

Brics is a grouping of emerging economies, an acronym of its original members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It has since expanded to 11 nations, with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia joining in.