New foreign trade policy to help revive exports: trade minister

India's upcoming new foreign trade policy (FTP) next month will aim at reviving its flagging export sector, the union minister of commerce and industry Anand Sharma has said.

At a board of trade meeting held yesterday, Sharma consulted various trade representatives, business chambers and exporters.

''We hope that after consultations with the finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee, we will be able to give more encouragement, possibly in the new FTP,'' he said.

Others who attended the meeting were Harsh Pati Singhania, president, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Venu Srinivasan president, Confederation of Indian Industry, and A Sakthivel, president, Federation of Indian Export Organisations.

The trade representatives and heads gave their inputs to the government and industry-specific suggestion.

According to Sharma, work is in progress for a long-term vision for the FTP. One of the focus of the policy would be the labour-intensive export sectors.