Highlighting the opinions and thoughts of policymakers and think-tanks on global trade and foreign policy

The trade data for July shows that the double digit pace in exports growth as was seen in June has slowed. Signals from the Eurozone economies are not positive as Germany, France and Italy are battling slowdown again and these three Eurozone economies are among the major markets for Indian exports. So, is the situation in Japan. Global headwinds are still strong.

D. S. Rawat, General Secretary, The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

India is an emerging, vibrant market and an important next step in our global expansion strategy.

Steve Sunnucks, Global President, Gap Inc. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The big losers in this case would be more the consumers in Russia themselves because it means they would pay higher prices. It would increase prices internally in the Russian Federation, but for the rest of the world it would tend to depress the quotations.

Concepcion Calpe, Senior Economist, UN FAO, reacting to Russia banning food product imports from EU _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This has the potential – and I stress potential – to become economic crisis 2.0.

Alexander Stubb, Finland PM told reporters in  Espoo, adding that the indirect impact of the sanctions could be significant for Finland _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

India will be an incredibly important market for us. We see the steel industry in India developing along the coastal seaboards, in the same way that we are seeing that transition in China.

Nev Power, CEO, Fortescue Metals Group _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I think there are some challenges facing Brand India as a result of what has been happening here in the past 2-3 years. There is a direct correlation between a strong country brand and strong FDI inflows.

Sir Martin Sorrell, Chief Executive, WPP Group