Saturday would mark the completion of a year of history being made in India-Pakistan trade relations.
According to Assocham, "the prospects for improving bilateral economic relations seem extraordinary. . .Pakistan will benefit by improving trade and economic relations with a fast growing country like India".
The move ended week-long speculation the government might have to appoint an acting chairman before a final decision.
The BoA, a 19-member inter-ministerial body that deals with special economic zone -related matters, is scheduled to meet on September 9.
Industry is of the view that rising interest rates is increasing the input cost as loans are getting costlier.
Exports dropped 5.7 per cent to $28.6 billion from the same period a year earlier.
With the growing voice of developing countries like India, Brazil and China, the big pharmaceutical firms will not be able to get the WTO's Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights agreement changed to their advantage, Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said in New Delhi.
Meeting is on June 24-25 on stalled pact, agreement likely by year-end.
The government will next week consider requests from Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Group firms and other companies for extension of validity for their different special economic zones.
In its meeting in New Delhi, the inter-ministerial Board of Approval also approved India's largest stainless steel producer JSL's proposal to surrender its sector-specific SEZ in Orissa, Commerce Ministry Additional Secretary D K Mittal told PTI.
Development commissioners have been asked to forward proposals regarding SEZs along with their comments at the earliest so that they could be deliberated over at the meeting, it said.
Imports during the first month of the current fiscal aggregated to $37.9 billion, leaving a trade a deficit of $13.4 billion.
India and Japan are likely to sign an ambitious bilateral market opening pact to enhance their $10.4-billion trade during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to that country in October.
India's merchandise exports crossed the government's target of $300 billion in the last fiscal and reached $303.7 billion. But according to Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar, the present fiscal is going to be tougher.
Imports reached $488.6 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $184.9 billion, Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said in New Delhi on Thursday.
According to the revised DTC draft, which will replace the Income Tax Act of 1961, tax exemptions for SEZs will be confined to the existing units.
In sharp contrast, imports grew at a faster rate of 20.6 per cent year-on-year to $39.7 billion in February, translating into a trade deficit of $15.1 billion.
Imports too grew by a fast pace of 41.8 per cent.
India's exports recorded the slowest pace of growth in three months at 4.3 per cent year-on-year at USD 24.6 billion in February, mainly due to the global slowdown.
The government has given more time to 20 SEZ developers, including Tata Consultancy Services and Mahindra World City, to execute their projects. At a meeting on January 14, the Board of Approval (BoA) headed by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar also allowed four SEZ developers to surrender their projects.
With the US and Europe imposing sanctions on Iran, India sees an opportunity to boost its trade with it by tapping the sectors which would be affected by the restrictions imposed by the West.
"You see, I have been in Commerce for the last seven years and I am perhaps the only factor that provides continuity in this ministry," Khullar says with unconcealed pride.
Navi Mumbai SEZ Pvt Ltd, promoted by Ambani and his associate Anand Jain, has proposed to split its 1,233-hectare SEZ project into five separate tax-free zones.
Developed economies like the US and EU are contemplating certain rules in relation to trade and environment which will have a significant implication for their border trade measures such as carbon taxation system for imports.
India will join a WTO panel as an 'observer' that would give the country an insight into how governments of developed countries place multi-billion procurement orders with the industry.
India may drag US to the World Trade Organisation for its new "protectionist" move in hiking professional visa fees, a step that will make Indian IT companies less competitive in the American market.
The sectors that exhibited major growth during the April-September, 2011, period include engineering, gems and jewellery and petroleum.
Imports, too, grew by 41.8 per cent to $38.4 billion in August, translating into a trade deficit of $14 billion during the month, as per the data.
Senior officials from different ministries, including finance, home affairs and defence, would be attending the meeting. The last BOA held on August 11 had allowed Maytas Ventures, promoted by the disgraced former Satyam chairman B Ramalinga Raju's son, to surrender its biotech SEZ and approved three new proposals, including that of Brooke Bond Real Estates IT/ITES tax-free enclave in Karnataka.
The government on Friday said rupee appreciation has not been "that sharp" as to hurt Indian exports, rebuffing exporters' claims that there was a need to curtail FII inflows into the economy, which are largely responsible for the appreciation against the dollar.
Exports growth was lower in April compared to the robust growth of 54 per cent in March.
Mahindra Satyam has approached the Commerce Ministry for more time to develop the three IT Special Economic Zones in Andhra Pradesh as it has decided to go slow on its expansion plans due to the slowdown.
India's exports grew by 13.2 per cent in July to $16.24 billion year-on-year, a rate much lower than witnessed in the first three months of this fiscal because of the fading base effect.
Exporting mango to the United States is now turning out to be a bitter experience, Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar has said.
During April-February, 2011, the country's merchandise shipments grew by 31.4 per cent to $208.2 billion, surpassing the export target of $200 billion for the entire 2010-11 fiscal.
While no reason has been given for postponement of the BoA meeting, commerce secretary Rahul Khullar is indisposed, an official said.
The study has been conducted by Ernst & Young on behalf of EEPC-India, the apex body of engineering goods exporters.
This is higher than the target of $200 billion for 2010-11, set by the government.
The country's trade deficit widened yet again, to $9.7 billion (Rs 43,500 crore) in October, compared to $9.12 billion in the earlier month. Also, after a span of three to four years, merchandise exports have surpassed the growth rate of imports in the same month.
Imports for October stood at $27.7 billion, widening the trade gap to $9.7 billion.
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