The Hindu Business Line : EEPC to open second engineering centre in Johannesburg

The Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) has finalised the second India Engineering Centre (IEC) (a multi-product showroom for Indian engineering items) at Johannesberg, South Africa.

The centre is expected to be inaugurated in September, to coincide with the general products SAITEX-2006 Fair in Johannesberg.

Mr Rakesh Shah, National Chairman of EEPC, told Business Line that it would be of the same size as the one at Chicago (around 6,000 sq ft), inaugurated last year by the Union Commerce Minister, Mr Kamal Nath.

Distribution, marketing

He said the centre, besides showcasing Indian capabilities in manufactured engineering items of iron and steel, would greatly help in distribution and marketing of the products in neighbouring countries such as Botswana and Namibia. The purpose, he said, was to render support to Indian engineering companies to meet off-the-shelf deliveries to clients abroad.

Mr Shah said a bond of confidence had been built between Indian manufacturers and OEMS/buyers/actual users in the developed countries of North America, Europe and Far East, and such IECs would further help in the marketing efforts. The Johannesberg centre would help meet the specific requirements of overseas buyers and facilitate cost-effective procurement by overseas buyers.

Export target

Sounding upbeat on maintaining a growth of 18-20 per cent in engineering exports in the current fiscal too, Mr Shah said though accurate figures for 2005-06 were still awaited, he is confident of the council exceeding the target of $18.3 billion, and touching a figure of $19 billion.

Despite the slow pick-up in the first two months of the current fiscal (which is a common trend), he is confident of reaching the target of $22 billion by March 2007. Commenting on the high-low value chain, he said engineering exports from the country enjoyed a ratio of 60:40, respectively.

Raw materials policy

Touching on the raw materials situation, he urged the Government to formulate a Raw Materials Policy to ensure adequate supply of materials from the main producers at international prices. Strict monitoring of such a policy, he felt, would ensure timely execution of export orders, and thereby create the way forward for India to achieve the goal of taking a 1.5 per cent share of global trade by 2009.

The engineering items exported to major destinations such as the US, Europe and Far East in recent years include items such as primary iron and steel, auto parts, industrial castings, tractors and agricultural equipment, industrial machinery, electric equipment & parts, steel products, sanitary castings and IC engines & parts.

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