‘Explore Export-2007’ conference held in Tuticorin

Inaugurating ‘Explore Export-2007,’ a conference organised in Tuticorin, by the Confederation of Indian Industry’s Madurai Zone to promote Tuticorin as an export hub, Mr. M. S. Srinivasan, Secretary, Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said that the country should enhance the containerised movement of cargo/goods to reduce the cost and time of transport.

He said the country needed to create exclusive cargo corridors for easier movement of goods from and to the ports. “We are lagging the rest of the globe in evolving cargo corridors by at least 10-12 years.”
Manickam Ramaswami, vice-chairman, CII, Tamil Nadu, said though the State was attracting a lot of investment recently, the industrial competitiveness was substantially affected by the poor quality and quantity of power. Furthermore, the cost of power was high. The increasing labour cost also affected the State’s industrial competitiveness. “The time has come to make a comprehensive study to analyse the components of labour cost.” V. Dharmarajan, deputy general manager, Export Credit Guarantee Corporation, explained the risk factors involved in export transactions.