Gangtok, Sept. 12: After the reopening of the trade pass at Nathu-la, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi, has got down to preparing a blueprint for export development plans of Sikkim.

The idea is to conduct a detailed study of the export potential of the hill state.

Rakesh Mohan Joshi of IIFT said this at the four-day workshop-cum-training programme on Export Promotion and Preparation of Export Development Plan for Sikkim, inaugurated at the police headquarters conference hall here today. Joshi is the project leader of the programme, which is being jointly organised by the IIFT and the state commerce and industries department. Additional chief secretary T.T. Dorji was the chief guest at the inaugural programme.

The basic objective of the programme, Joshi said, was to develop an understanding of export among officials of various state government departments and non-government trade organisations and inculcate in them the necessary skills for export promotion.

According to Joshi, the team will work on the present situation at the border trade pass, identify the problems including those of export and infrastructure and suggest solutions to them. He said apart from helping to develop a basic understanding of export and inculcating basic skills for the promotion of trade across the border, the blueprint will be explained to the participants.

Under the plan, the present scenario of the state’s resource base will be reviewed, its international marketing opportunities identified and goods with export potential listed. The officials will also work on the bottlenecks blocking the increasing export oriented production and review central-states schemes related to them.

Participants will be divided into a few groups and each team will be assigned a different area. At the end of the seminar, a draft on export development will be prepared.