Liberlized Indian petroleum policy to affect Nepal

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, July 6 - Unlike the previous trend, Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) recently reached a new agreement for import of petroleum products just for one year in place of regular five years. The agreement was reached on June 29 after the agreement between the two parties made on June 27, 1995, expired on June 26, 2000.

"A lot of changes in the policies of Petroleum sector in India after June 1995 has prompted us to reach a one year agreement this time," said Madan Raj Sharma, Acting Managing Director of NOC.

India is planning to release the Administered Pricing Mechanism (APM) in April 2000, thereby lifting all subsidies on petroleum products in India.

NOC thus has to think in a broader aspect of all possible ways to obtain petroleum products at cheaper rates from reliable sources and ensure its smooth supply.

"The situation in the petroleum sector in India would be different after 2002. We need time to foresee its probable implications on Nepal and so the agreement was renewed only for a year," said Sharma.

According to the recent agreement, a three-member team would be formed, each from IOC and NOC, and do the necessary homework as a cushion for policy change within this year. A new five-year agreement would again be reached next year after the completion of the preparatory work.

NOC imports diesel and kerosene from abroad and exchanges the excess of it for aviation fuel, petrol and other petroleum products with IOC. However, NOC is considering to import crude oil from 2002, which it intends to sell or exchange for purified products from IOC.

Such a decision is under consideration keeping in view the increase in Indian refining capacity and the requests of
IOC. "The final decision to import crude oil needs more thinking," said Sharma.

He informed that the decision to import crude oil would be significantly guided by the type of agreement IOC intends to reach.

Presently, Nepal has a capacity to store 60 thousand metric tons of oil, which would be enough to meet the petroleum needs for about 35 days.

Accord signed to end child labour

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, July 6 - The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry - Employers Council (FNCCI) and the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) of the International Labour Organization (ILO), Kathmandu signed an agreement Wednesday to implement the second phase of an Action Programme entitled "Towards Child Labour free area in Pokhara sub-metropolis", says a press release issued by FNCCI.

Sensitization of the employers and the community on the legal provisions of the country which prohibit the employment of children below 14 years is important. As shown by the results of the first phase of the Action Programme, the interception of an employers’ organization to carry out this activity has proved to be effective as shown by the results of the first phase of the Action Programme, that was also implemented by the FNCCI-EC, it is said.

As is evident, Pokhara Sub-metropolis is both the district as well as zonal headquarters and a major contender of the Nepalese tourism sector and accommodates a large number of small enterprises, industries, hotels and eating establishments. Most of these small scale industries and establishments employ children belonging to the Sub-Metropolis area and the surrounding rural Village Development Committees (VDCs).

The agreement was signed by Rajendra K Khetan, Chairman of FNCCI-EC, in the presence of Pradeep K Shrestha, President of FNCCI and Leyla Tegmo-Reddy, senior ILO Adviser of the ILO Kathmandu Office.

Toyota keen to improve environment of Nepal

By a Post Reporter

KATHMANDU, July 6 - For a very high level official of Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) of Japan like Okira Okabe to be interested in preserving the degrading environment of the Kathmandu valley may seem surprising.

The Oceania Middle East & South West Asia Divisional General Manager of Toyota Motor Corporation doesn’t consider Nepal as a very potential market for the biggest company of Japan, but still they provide major concern to the tiny country’s environment.

Though Nepal imports merely 3 to 4 hundred cars in a year, its natural beauty and friendly people are capable of attracting hosts of visitors from Japan, and Okabe is one of them.

His strong bondage with Nepal began as early as 1970 when he was working for a non-governmental organization that was working for safe drinking water for rural villagers in the country. He also met his Japanese wife in the same organization whom he married in a traditional Nepali way in 1971.

He is concerned about Nepal’s future. "The degrading environment of Kathmandu is a big threat to Nepal’s potential in tourism sector," he said talking to The Kathmandu Post yesterday.

The essence of business is not always profits. It is consumer satisfaction and a matter of a better environment for the whole Earth, he says. He supports the recent enforcement of Nepal Vehicular Mass Emission Standards (NVMES), 1999, which is in the spirit of Euro 1 that has laid strict provisions for vehicle imports into Nepal.

"The government has done a good thing by imposing such restrictions. The pollution in the valley has to be brought under control," he says.

The provision in NVMES requires certificate of conformity of production (CoP) that has created problems even for Toyota imports.

It isn’t that Toyota cars are not able to meet the norms set by the Nepalese government, he says. The problem must be solved through dialogue between the private sector and the government here, but the provisions in NVMES, compatible to environment protection, must not be scrapped, he says.

The plantation of saplings in the green belts along roads in Kathmandu valley is a gesture of Toyota’s commitment towards a better environment, which is in line with its slogan: Let’s make things better, he says.

He supports the efforts of United Traders’ Syndicate (UTS), the sole distributor of Toyota cars in Nepal, for imparting a better environment for the Kathmanduities.

However, there is no major plan from the Japanese company for pollution reduction in Kathmandu, he says.

About the cars’ sales trend in Nepal, he says, "Japanese car exports to Nepal is not growing much. High imports duty for Japan is hampering Toyota’s Nepalese market."

However, it has clinched 44 percent of the Nepalese small car market, he boasts.

Asked if Toyota can come up with models affordable by middle class families in Nepal, he says, "Toyota can produce cheap cars. But its quality level will damage Toyota’s reputation."