Call to prioritise air cargo in FTAs

The need of the hour is to build Special Economic Zones (SEZ) near airports to facilitate ease of doing business, and give priority to air cargo in FTA negotiations, said Mr Sanjiv Edward, CEO, Cargo and Logistics at GMR Group, while speaking as a panelist at a recent PHDCCI event in New Delhi. He also addressed the need to prioritise air cargo in the Foreign Trade Policy and implement efficient freighter strategies to ease the process of freighter registration in India. SEZs close to the airports will reduce dwell time and cost and enhance trade. There’s also a need to promote air cargo as a product. There’s need for global branding and marketing of air cargo. Associations like ACFI should take this forward with the government, he added, as per a report.