PANAJI
Geographical Index (GI) tagging of indigenous products will help Goa climb higher in the country's sustainable development goals (SDG) index, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Tuesday, while also rooting for transforming Goa into an export hub.
Speaking at a trade function 'Vanijya Utsav' in Panaji, Sawant also said that the state's pharmaceutical industry accounts for 12 per cent of the country's medicine manufacturing capacity.
"We have moved from the 7th position in the SDG (ranking) to the fourth position in 2020. The state is coming up with common processing clusters for paddy, vegetable, food processing, fruit, coir, chilli and jaggery," the Chief Minister said.
"Our government is working to get geo-tagging for more Goan products. The GI tagging will help Goan entrepreneurs to involve traditional businesses, such as manufacturing of feni, khaje as well as farmers producing the kola chilli (and provide intellectual property rights for the products)," Sawant also said.
Speaking about the potential prowess of the state vis a vis export, Sawant said that Goa already has a strong presence in the fishing, agriculture, tourism and pharmaceutical sectors.
"We have also emerged as a manufacturing base for several leading companies in the areas of tyres and tubes, cement, electrical machinery, automatic washing machines and printed circuit boards," Sawant said.
"Pharmaceutical industry in Goa produces 12 per cent of the total medicine in manufacturing in India. Around 70 per cent of their produce is exported to the most developed countries in the world," he also said, while adding that Information Technology, shipbuilding, tourism, agriculture and allied sectors are some of the key areas in the state which have export potential.
The Chief Minister also said that despite Goa's unique challenges, the state should be developed as a model export hub for the rest of the country.
"We all share a goal. The goal is to enhance Goa's export potential by finding new opportunities and entering the new markets," Sawant said.
"As we are the smallest state in India and we are facing unique developmental challenges due to our small population and limited natural resources, like availability of land. Therefore we all must work shoulder to shoulder to make Goa an export hub, a model export state for the rest of the country," he added.
