Bombay Chamber of Commerce 11th Biennial Conference

The Chief Guest, Hon’ble Union M Transport and Highways four “E”s which are thePorts,Shippingand India. The four E’s are EcologyandEnvironment.

The Minister informed thetotalairpollutionin to road traffic and it promote public transport Government of India various measures to transportsystem.

Further, Shri. Ga Government of India was mobility and use of hydrogen thefuture.

MUMBAI: Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) hosted its 11th Biennial International Conference on Ports, Shipping and Logistics on 13 April 2023 at the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai. This year the Conference deliberated on the theme “EnvisioningFutureofLogistics@2047”.

The event began with the Welcome Remarks by Mr. Nilesh Shah, President, Bombay Chamber wherein he highlighted the legacy of BCCI, which is the oldest operating chamber of commerce in India servingIndiancommercialorganisationsfor morethan187years. Hehighlightedthatthe Bombay Chamber contributed effectively towards overall development of commerce and trade by addressing core issues and beingresponsivetotheneedsofbusiness.

Mr. Anil Radhakrishnan offered the introductor y remarks, wherein he highlighted the activities of the Shipping and Logistics committee and the legacy of the Shipping Conference. He covered a wide range of topics such as National Logistics Policy and its relevance, leveraging digital and technological advances, skill development, sustainability aspects, etc as focus areas of the conference He highlighted that the Chamber continued to take the lead and maintained distinctiveness through wellarticulated recommendations and strategy papers, which would provide roadmaps for creating a facilitative environment to enhance growth and development of the maritime sector and thereby a strong economy.

Being the Conference Chairman, Shri. Rajiv Jalota, IAS, Chairman, Mumbai Port Authority, set the theme of the conference.Heemphasisedthatthethemeof the conference was in line with the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi’s vision

The main objective was to discuss ways to increase the effectiveness of "End-to-End Logistics" in India while keeping the "customer" in mind In light of this, the conference discussion focused on topics such as digitization and innovation, infrastructure investment, ease of doing business for customer-centric maritime services, sustainablelogistics,andgreeninitiatives.

The Plenary session started with the Special Address by the Guest of Honour, Shri. Vivek Johri, Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). He began by saying that exporters have to face a lot of uncertainty and they have to deal with multiple agencies to trade across borders, which adds to the cost Further,Mr Johriexplainedhowprocedures were simplified and rationalised by the NationalTradeFacilitationCommittee.

Mr Johri informed about “Turant Customs”, a special digital initiative which canreduce thedwelltimeofthegoodswhich are pending only for the grant of such clearance. E-SANCHIT is a component of SWIFT that allows traders to electronically submit all essential documents for consignment clearance with digital signatures. Because the entire process of consignment clearance is now faceless and paperless, there is no need to provide hard copiesofrelevantdocumentsinperson.

Mr Johri also mentioned the National Cargo Bureau which recently launched a remote container inspection facility The Certificate of Origin is being increasingly issued through an online platform. He further stated that the targets for Import cargo were 48 hours for sea and 24hours forairtransportwhichlookedquite possible. Customs are looking for transparencyandreductionofasymmetryof informationacrossstakeholders.

He updated that most Delhi Mumbai Exp completedbyDecember 7-8 logistics parks Maharashtra alongwith Nashik,MumbaiandNagpur

Shri. Gadkari explained of waterways being claimed that the entire between Mumbai an if we promote water transport It would be more sustainable the environment and areas.

On behalf of the Bombay Gadkari felicitated Mr Seahorse Ship Agencies, IAS, Chairman, Mumbai and Mr. Kalpesh Shipping Times for their theConference.

P a d m a s h r i P Dadasaheb Yadav, ICT, spoke about Development Goals a logistics He explain could be used to im supplychainsandlogi