HEADLINE NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

Globalisation good for Nepal: Experts

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Lalitpur, Mar. 28:Nepal’s integration with global economy is essential for the national economic growth and poverty reduction, experts said at a national workshop today.

Nepal has no alternative but to adopt globalisation and liberalisation for the promotion of domestic economy, they said at the two-day workshop on “Globalisation and Sustainable Human Development” jointly organised by National Planning Commission (NPC), UNDP and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) here today. “Nepal cannot achieve sustainable human development by isolating herself from the international economic community.”

They said Nepal would benefit from the globalisation of its economy in various ways and suggested that Nepal had to prepare herself before joining the international economic track.

They also pointed out some prerequisites Nepal has to have before enlisting to the global net. Good governance, stability of macro-economy and necessity policies to support sustainable human development would be desirable for this, they added.

Inaugurating the programme, Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya said that Nepal accepted liberalisation and globalisation as the hallmark of her economic policy since the 1990s.

By amending and revising Acts and thus providing a competitive and liberal climate, the government undertook reforms in the financial sector so as to enhance domestic economic activities and to attract foreign investment, he said.

Acharya said that the current Ninth Plan has embraced poverty alleviation as its major development objective.

“Integration with the global economy means an openness to international flows of goods, services, capital, labour, technology and ideas which spur economic growth and assure general good health of a nation,” he said.

From the chair, NPC Vice Chairman Prithwi Raj Ligal said that the workshop would identify the constraints that obstruct Nepal’s integration with the global economy. “We will correct the past shortcomings and review our policies regarding globalisation.”

He said that the new round of policies would also include agriculture and other social sectors, including education, health and population.

Welcoming the guests earlier, NPC Member Dr. Shankar Sharma said that economic growth rate under liberalisation is greater than in closed economy. He said that the workshop would focus on how to utilise the opportunities provided by liberalisation to achieve sustainable human development.

Dr. Sharma informed that the international conference of the least developed countries being organised by UNCTAD in May 2001 would also contribute to speed Nepal’s integration with the global economy.

Dr. A. R. Khan, Co-ordinator and Professor at the University of California, said Nepal’s geographical situation and her open border with the giant neighbour India were the major constraints Nepal had in joining the global economy. “Because of this Nepal will not be able to integrate with the global economy unless India does. It is beyond Nepal’s power,” he said.

However, he made it clear that it was not due to Indian policy.

Dr. Khan suggested that Nepal invoke regional co-operation to overcome the constraints.

He said that Nepal’s economic performance in the recent day were not satisfactory though post globalisation period had seen some positive results in this sector. “But time has not lapsed. If integrated with the global economy, the economic growth rate that has currently declined will rise again.”

UN Resident Representative Dr. Henning Karcher said that globalisation, an ongoing process, would provide Nepal with opportunities to develop her economic activities. “For globalisation to achieve maximum benefits to the people, it is essential to look beyond achieving a global market structure driven calculations that bring only short-term benefits.”

UNCTAD Senior Programme Manager Dr. Jagadish Saigal said that the objective of the workshop was to enhance the capacities of developing countries to manage their integration with the global economy that would help them achieve sustainable human development of their respective countries.

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