August – September 2023

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

Dear Members,

India’s G20 Presidency , under the theme of “One Earth, One Family, One Future has sought to structurally transform global policy-making, especially in trade, investment, and climate and development financing.

Moreover, the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor announced on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit is expected to be a game-changer project and provide a huge boost to global trade. The US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, European Union (EU), Italy, France and Germany were brought together on the economic corridor agreement on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.

The US-backed corridor seeks to connect India with Europe via the Middle East by sea and port. This will redefine the movement of goods and services across the three continents as it will bring down logistics costs and ensure quicker delivery of shipments. For India’s engineering exports sector, both the Middle East and Europe are key markets, and having transport infrastructure of this scale will significantly enhance its competitiveness globally.

Automobile industry is experiencing a period of rapid growth and increased production due to strong sales and demand for cars. It’s a positive indicator for the industry and the economy as a whole. Workers across the country‘ s automobile hub is working on longer hours and even on weekends  to build up inventory. The Automakers have ramped up production by upt0 25 % to clear the 650,000 unit order book and expected record – breaking festive season sales amid sustained consumer demand. The industry expects to sell more than a million cars, sedans and sports utility vehicles this festive season, exceeding 934000 sold in 2021 season and 892000 unit in 2022

The Budget 2023 hiked TCS on foreign remittances of more than Rs 7 lakh through the LRS to 20% for investments in overseas assets, real estate, bonds, foreign company stocks, etc. The higher rate comes into effect on October 1, 2023.  Market regulator Sebi has approved a proposal to provide flexibility to large corporations to meet their financing needs from debt market. Under the new framework, Sebi said that a higher monetary threshold would be specified for defining large corporations, thereby reducing the number of entities qualifying as large corporations.

Additionally, it has been decided to remove penalties on large corporations that are not able to raise a certain percentage of incremental borrowing from the debt market, and plans to introduce incentives and moderated disincentives.

The flourishing bunkering trade in global maritime transport spells a big opportunity for southern ports in India. They can become ideal stopovers for cargo vessels passing in the international sea lane below Sri Lanka for replenishment of fuel, stores and provisions. Estimates peg the global bunker fuel market at $164.9 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 4.3 per cent, from $109.6 billion in 2020. Major ports such as Cochin, Chennai and New Mangalore Port are strongly involved in the bunkering business, especially with the post-Covid surge in demand. Cochin port is geared up to provide quality service to the shipping and logistics trade passing along the peninsular rim of India. This would bolster the competitive position of Cochin and, in turn, help realise the true potential of the country’s blue economy. The bunkering volume during 2022-23 touched 3,65,983 tonnes. Of this, the share of coastal shipping was 1,26,247 tonnes and foreign ships was 2,39,736 tonnes.

Coming to our home state Kerala, Government of Kerala is aiming to help 1000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) achieve an annual turnover of Rs 100 crore within three years through technology adoption. The program, called Mission 1000, will involve the government providing support to SMEs to modernize and adopt global best practices. Incentives, such as capital incentives and 50% interest subvention for working capital loans, will be offered to promote rapid growth.

The Kerala government has revised its Private Industrial Estate scheme to allow individual developers to set up industrial parks and provide them with Rs 3 crore for creating infrastructure facilities such as roads, electricity and water supply. Previously, only companies and cooperatives were eligible to take advantage of the PIE scheme.

As per the revised scheme, individual developers having a minimum of 10 acres of land at their disposal can apply for developing industrial parks. So far, eight individual developers have been given permits to build private industrial parks in different parts of the state. The Department of Industries and Commerce (DIC) will provide up to Rs 3 crore as grant to each developer to create infrastructure facilities like roads, electricity, water supply, sewage and effluent treatment plants and communication networks in the private industrial parks.

Red category industries, as notified by the Kerala Pollution Control Board, shall not be permitted in such parks. Applications for the permit can be made online, after which a District-Level Site Selection Committee will inspect the plot. Following their assessment, the State-Level Selection Committee will review the report and grant the developer permits. The development of the park must be completed within two years of obtaining the permit.

Moving on as part of Chamber’s CEO Forum Meeting, the 08th edition of the CEO Forum meeting for the month of September 2023 held on 28th of September at Hotel Le Meridien, Cochin. The guest speaker Shri. Susanth Kurunthil, CEO of Infoparks Kerala lectured on the topic : “Emerging information technology opportunities for business”. Shri. Venkitraman Anand, Vice President of the Chamber delivered the Welcome address; whereas Shri. S. P. Kamath Vice President of the Chamber delivered the vote of thanks. There were close to 30 participants from various organisation attend the session.

Chamber jointly with Malayala Manorama will be organizing an EXIM SUMMIT 2023 “Bridging Borders : Unlocking EXIM Potential” on 27th October 2023 at Hotel Le Meridien, Cochin. Hon. Member of Parliament Shri. Hibi Eden will be the Chief Guest at the Valedictory Session, whereas Shri. Gurkaran Singh Kohli, Commissioner Customs, Customs House Cochin will deliver a Special address at the Inaugural Session. The objective of the programme is to promote more exports from Cochin Port and to support import trade; there are 3 panel discussion on (1) Issues and Concerns of Exporters & Importers (2) Opportunities in EXIM Trade and (3) reduction in transaction cost. Kindly register for this using the following link : https://www.cochinchamber.org/events/register/116

I am glad to inform you that we had two foreign delegation visited the Chamber; during the month of August, Shri. Daljit Singh Kohli, Indian Representative to Port of Antwerp & Burges visited the Chamber and interacted with the Chamber members on exploring business opportunities to Europe through Port of Antwerp and in the month of September 2023 H.E Shelley Salehin, Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh (in Chennai) visited the Chamber and interacted with members on various business opportunities in Bangladesh, during H.E interaction he invited the Chamber members to Bangladesh to attend the upcoming expositions.

Thank you and stay safe…..

P. M. Veeramani

Recent Union Cabinet Decisions

AUGUST 2023

SEPTEMBER 2023

Forthcoming Events

CEO Forum Breakfast Meeting : 19th October 2023: Crowne Plaza, Cochin

Mr Luc Arnouts, Vice President (International Relations and Network) Port of Antwerp-Bruges to India will join us as guest speaker for the session.

Session on EXIM Trade : 27th October 2023: Hotel Le Meridien, Cochin

Chamber will be organising a Session on EXIM Trade in association with Malayala Manorama on 27 th October 2023 at Hotel Le Meridien, Cochin.

Recent Events

Interaction with Mr. Daljit Singh Kholi, Indian representative for The Port of Antwerp-Bruge : 18th October 2023 : Chamber Hall, Cochin Chamber of Commerce & Industry

The Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry is organised an Interaction with, Mr. Daljit Singh Kholi, Indian representative for The Port of Antwerp-Bruge. The Purpose of this Interaction was to understand the opportunities of accessing the European market through Belgium and particularly through the Port of Antwerp-Bruges.

Visit of H. E Shelley Salehin , Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh(in Chennai) : 25th October 2023 : Chamber Hall, Cochin Chamber of Commerce & Industry

The Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh (in Chennai) H. E. Shelley Salehin visited the Cochin Chamber on Monday, 25th September 2023 and interacted with its members.

The purpose of the visit is to discuss the bilateral relationship between India and Bangladesh and also to discuss the business opportunities in Kerala, whereas the Members raised their concerns regarding the lack of vessel connectivity to Chittagong & Dhaka Ports which need to be addressed, discrepancy charges wherein the exporters is not certain about some documentations, payment issues with the exporter etc. H.E told that these issues will be looked into and give accurate guidance.

CEO Forum Breakfast Meeting : 29th October 2023: Hotel Le Meridien, Cochin

The Eighth edition of CEO Forum meeting for the month of September  2023 held on  Thursday, 28th September 2023 at Hotel Le Meridien, (Maradu) Cochin. The guest speaker for the day was Sri. Susanth Kurunthil, Chief Executive Officer, Infoparks ,Kerala  who delivered a lecture on the topic: “Emerging Information Technology Opportunities for Business”.

Press Coverages

Exclusive Exim Statistics

Statistical Reports on Exports and Imports through the Cochin Port.

The Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry publishes statistical reports on Exports and Imports through the Cochin Port on a monthly basis followed by a Consolidated Annual Report at the end of each calendar year. The reports on exports are classified as commodity wise and pertain to the following commodities:

  • Coffee
  • Tea
  • Spices
  • Cashews
  • Cotton Goods
  • Seafood and
  • Coir and coir products

Details on all other commodities that do not fall under the above-mentioned heads are carried as the ‘Miscellaneous Report’. Customized reports will also be available according to customers requirement.

We have several members in the export/import fraternity subscribing to these reports on a monthly basis and from the feedback received they are immensely benefited by the same.

We are confident that our reports will be of help to your Company in staying one step ahead of your competitors in business. A sample of the report is attached herewith for your reference. Also attached is the ‘Subscription Form’ to enable you to subscribe to the report should you want to do so.

Should you have any queries please feel free to contact Mr. T.M. Padbhanabhan (8921695456).