Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, said that Indian companies must explore engineering and construction projects in developed nations like the US to have a lower risk option and gives a better rating. He added that the project also includes the export of engineering consultancy. During an event organised by the Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM), he said that Indian firms should not necessarily focus only on projects with government funding or lines of credit from the government, which are third world, backward or less developed countries. The projects in Europe or US have much lower risk, with better pricing. It will lower the capital requirements with a high credit rating for projects in developed countries. According to Goyal, Exim Bank can conduct a study based on the restrictions in developed countries, how can access of Indian companies in project exports be improved, and what are the government restrictions, among others. Besides, the market access problems for project exports could be addressed by the government through the free trade agreements that India is currently negotiating and gearing up. The minister said that despite challenges for international trade from Omicron, supply chain disruptions, and geopolitical conflicts, including the Russia-Ukraine war, international trade had been complicated. However, India exported goods worth $38 billion in April this year. Image Source Also read: India signs a free trade pact for duty-free exports to the Emirates