NEW DELHI, AUG 22: The Bombay club is now giving way to the WTO club. Pushed by an urgency to play ball with global trading norms in a new WTO dictated trading order, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has set up a World Trade Organisation club to coach members on finer aspects of international trade.This marks a dramatic departure on the part of Indian industry in the way it confronts global business challenges. The erstwhile Bombay Club made up of heavyweights like Rahul Bajaj, Jamshed Godrej and others sought protection from the government against what it considered to be a multinational onslaught.The Confederation now realises that mere lobbying will no longer help Indian industry survive a competitive trading norm. ``It has to work under the rules and regulations that have been chalked out by the WTO. Therefore, the aim of the Club is to help companies become global providers with a global reach at a competitive price,'' said CII consultant, T S Vishwanath.Identifying niche products on behalf of companies and brand building and brand promotion will be one of the focus areas for the Club. For this, it is also prepared to take delegations abroad for brand promotion. Free consultations, online access to a database of information on WTO related issues and regular updates on economic and trade developments in India's major trading partners are some of the other services that the Club promises to deliver on.And all of this for an annual subscription of Rs three lakh. The Club, launched recently, has so far managed to rope in a few members like the Tata Group, Murugappa Group, Lakshmi Machine Tools and industry associations like the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA). It hopes to rope in at least 15 more members by the end of this year.
