RMBGTRIndia2025

In 2024 India’s exports of goods and services are estimated to have been over $800bn, which despite a year-on-year increase of 5.6 per cent remains behind the nation’s target of $2 trillion by 2030. With a rising disparity between merchandise and service exports, and with the latter growing eight percent higher in 2024 than the former, the imperative to support the success of India’s merchandisers is key. The current landscape for goods exporters has its challenges however, from structural issues that complicate access to credit and working capital to market barriers that inhibit trade linkages for Indian firms. With just five years remaining to reach India’s national export target, this plenary panel will consider the steps MSMEs, financiers and policymakers can take to expand and support merchandise trade volumes, including:

• Rising cost pressures for India’s global exporters and the lender liquidity solutions that can help meet working capital and payment cycle volatility
• The dominance of documentary finance in India and priorities for overcoming access barriers such as simplifying collateral and creditworthiness conditions, bringing down compliance costs and widening bank and MSME relationships
• Trade market access: What the next five years might offer for bilateral agreements, deepening corridor flows, reducing trade costs and expanding merchandise volumes
• How exporters can take advantage of India’s shifting competitiveness with both higher-value and labour-intensive markets
• Priorities for improving financial literacy among India’s MSMEs: Helping firms with credit access, technical knowledge, and trade and business skills