The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has convened a one-day national traders conference on November 25 in New Delhi, bringing together prominent trade leaders from all states of the country.
The objective of the conference is to finalise plans for launching the nationwide Swadeshi Sankalp Rath Yatra inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to promote Swadeshi on a large scale, the CAIT said in a statement on Sunday.
The conference will also discuss the substantial benefits of GST announced by the prime minister and the rapid growth of internal and export trade under the vision of Ease of Doing Business.
More than 100 leading traders from across India will participate in the conference, which will be chaired by CAIT National President B C Bhartia.
CAIT National Secretary General and Member of Parliament from Delhi’s Chandni Chowk Praveen Khandelwal said this meeting is of great significance as it will deliberate on the country’s rapidly evolving trade landscape, challenges faced by traders, future strategy, and measures to further strengthen the organisation.
He said to take the prime minister’s call of “Sell Swadeshi – Buy Swadeshi” to every corner of the country, the Swadeshi Sankalp Rath Yatra will be conducted nationwide. One such Rath, which began from the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, is now entering Chhattisgarh. Beginning 1st December, two more Rath Yatras will start touring village-to-village across Madhya Pradesh.
The conference will finalise similar plans for other states.
Khandelwal further said that the meeting would focus on preventing rising cases of cyber fraud against traders and devising strategies to counter them. In view of the growing cyber risks in the digital era, concrete security measures and awareness programmes for traders will be finalised.
Additionally, the conference will discuss skill development programmes for traders and their employees, including specialised training modules on digital skills, financial management, technology adoption and modern business practices, with plans to conduct large-scale workshops across the country.
The agenda also includes discussions on the execution, operations, and monitoring of the Swadeshi Sankalp Rath Yatra, making the campaign more widespread, impactful and result-oriented. There will be an in-depth deliberation on necessary amendments required in the GST system, aimed at reducing compliance burdens and addressing practical difficulties faced by traders.
Further, issues related to trade under the prime minister’s vision of Ease of Doing Business will be discussed, with a focus on improving transparency, simplifying procedures and accelerating digitalisation of trade.
The conference will also explore new business opportunities, especially in emerging markets, e-commerce, the digital economy and the MSME sector, and will evaluate future plans for growth.
A major agenda point will be the proposal to organise a mega National Women Entrepreneurs Conference in Delhi in December, aimed at empowering women traders and entrepreneurs.
The framework for this special national event will also be finalised during the meeting.