 |
Kathmandu Monday November 27, 2000 Mangshir 12, 2057.
|
FNCCI to make efforts to
narrow trade gap
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Nov 26 - Pradeep Kumar Shrestha,
President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) said
today that the FNCCI and its Indian counterpart are holding talks regarding the Indian
media’s news report that cheap Chinese goods are exported to India through Nepal.
However, Nepal’s imports from China have fallen recently. According to Shrestha, it
is not only India, but also the international market which is affected by the Chinese
products.
A delegation comprising government officials,
experts and members of the FNCCI leaves for Wuxi, People’s Republic of China today to
participate in the fourth meeting of the Nepal-China Non-Governmental Cooperation Forum
beginning on November 27.
The delegation will focus mainly on narrowing
the trade deficit between Nepal and China by exploring new areas for exporting Nepalese
goods to the Chinese mainland, China Autonomous Region of Tibet, Hong Kong, the Special
Administrative Region (SAR).
Pradeep Kumar Shrestha speaking at a press
conference organized on the eve of the Forum’s meet here today, said, "We will
mainly focus on narrowing the trade gap and exploring new areas for export."
He also commented that during the meet and in
informal talks with Chinese entrepreneurs, the delegation would ask them to invest in
solar energy, hydropower, export promotion zone, electric trains, and the fertilizer and
cement industry.
The delegation is also going to import new
technologies that China is using in agriculture, sheep raising, sericulture and will also
hold talks regarding the export of herbal medicines to China.
Another important point on the agenda of the
delegation would be a follow-up to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between
the two countries and the alternative route to China through Nuwakot, which the FNCCI
suggested a while ago. The FNCCI has carried out a study on the route and submitted the
proposal to the prime minister: he will also present the study report to the Chinese
officials. The opening-up of new routes will help to formalize the informal trade between
the two countries, he said.
The delegation will also request the Chinese
Government to commence a direct flight from Beijing to Kathmandu in order to attract more
Chinese tourists to Nepal. China recently announced Nepal to be its ninth outbound tourist
destination.
Binod Bahadur Shrestha, Second Vice President
of the FNCCI said that they would also focus on issues other than trade, such as asking
the Chinese to help revive ailing industries established with Chinese cooperation, for
instance Hetauda Textiles.
Likewise, they would also discuss the
difficulties in Sino-Nepal trade and make efforts to solve them. Since China is advanced
in the field of information technology (IT) we will also discuss it during the meeting, he
said. In this connection, the FNCCI is going to request the Nepal Rastra Bank, the central
bank, to allow Chinese nationals to use Chinese currency for certain purposes.
Ravi Bhakta Shrestha, First Vice President of
FNCCI said that trade between Nepal and China has not flourished in comparison to
Sino-Nepal relations and the delegation would make efforts to boost the bilateral trade
especially Nepal’s export to China. The meet will end on December 3, 2000. The
35-member delegation is the biggest ever.
Other Stories
|
