Entry into WTO to help Nepal: Minister

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Lalitpur, Nov. 21: Commerce Minister Ram Krishna Tamrakar today said that Nepal's accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) would benefit the nation in terms of industrial development, employment generation, resource mobilisation and economic growth.

"Nepal's entry into the WTO will not put the country at a disadvantage," Tamrakar told the inaugural ceremony of a two-day seminar on WTO, Globalisation and Nepal here this morning. "It will instead open new avenues for national development."

"The challenge before us, however, is to overcome the widely held fear that the nation will be at a disadvantage with its accession to the WTO," he said. "Besides, we should focus our attention on how we can attain international competitive edge in products that we export."

Readymade garments and carpets are Nepal's major exportable items in which Nepal presently enjoys quota facility. Experts show reservations that these items can compete in the international market once Nepal enters the competitive world trade regime, planned for early 2001.

"Keeping this in view, we asked for concessions for a few years during the first rounds of our negotiations with the representatives of other countries in Geneva a few months ago," Minister Tamrakar said. "And the response was positive."

Tamrakar confirmed that the government would give due consideration to any constructive suggestions put forward by the private sector as well as academic organisations to attain a competitive edge on the exportable items.

US Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission Larry Dinger said that Nepal's accession to the WTO, adherence to sound national economic policies, and speedy decision-making would ensure greater access to the continually growing global economy and lead to better economic opportunities.

"Among the most significant benefits of WTO membership is the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB)," Dinger said. "For Nepal, the DSB is a potentially invaluable tool which can place you in a mush stronger position when negotiating trade disputes with much larger economies."

"For a landlocked country like Nepal, one distinct advantage of joining the WTO is that it entitles the member state with the right to transit facilities," NEFAS (Nepal Foundation for Advanced Studies) Executive Director Ananda Shrestha said welcoming the participants. "A perennial access to transit facilities will be no small achievement for Nepal in the light of its desire to open itself to the outside world."

But this in itself is not enough, unless Nepal raises its efficiency and international competitive edge in both product specialisation and diversification, he added.

President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce of Industry Pradeep Kumar Shrestha said that the country's accession to WTO would mean little unless the private sector knew the trade rules and strengthened itself to capitalise the opportunities.

He stressed on partnership between the government, academic experts and the business community to enhance efficiency to keep pace with the speedy global trade environment.

"We need a special policy to gain a competitive edge on the exportable items and to diversify our export trade," President of Nepal-USA Chamber of Commerce of Industry (NUSACCI) Narendra Kumar Basnyat said.

Organised jointly by NEFAS, and NUSACCI with co-operation of the American Embassy, the seminar will centre on the themes of WTO, Globalisation and Social Security, Foreign Policy Implications of WTO Membership, WTO and the Least Developed Countries, Effects of WTO Membership on Governance and WTO's Dispute Settlement.

The two-day seminar aims to carry out a follow-up to previous debates on the WTO and Globalisation initiated by NEFAS and to initiate discussion on the subject so as to provide input to policy making before Nepal enters the WTO.

Seminar on fair trade

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu Nov. 21: Fair Trade Group Nepal organised a one-day workshop seminar on the "Challenges of Fair Trade in the New Millennium" here today.

To promote public awareness, and identify and tackle the challenges associated with the fair trade is the concern of the Nepalese entrepreneurs to keep pace with the competitive global market, the experts told the seminar.

"Being a Fair Trade Group, a non-profit organisation, all our efforts are directed towards benefitting the poor and small scale entrepreneurs with their traditional (indigenous) skills and limited resources at their disposal," said Meera Bhattarai, Chair of the organisation.

Govinda Dev Pandey, Exucative Director of the Small and Middle Enterprise Development Programme presented a working paper on the theme of enhancing the small scale entrepreneurs’ traditional skills to face the competitive global market through the fair trade.

Pointing out the challenges facing the extentaion of the fair trade, Pandey in his paper said that the unskilled manpower, mediators’ manipulation, market limitations and the lack of institutional banking facility are the factors hindering the fair trade.

Dr. Mohan Man Sainju, Executive Director of the Institute of Integrated Development Service, commented on the paper.

The summary of the programme was presented by Dr. Shankar Sharma, member of the National Planning Commission.

The seminar was a part of a three day handicraft exhibition.

Keeping track of tax payer money – Japan's way

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Nov 21: Tax payers in Japan are keen to keep track of what is happening to the money that they pay to their government, part of which is disbursed in the form of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to many underdeveloped countries including Nepal.

"It is heartening to see that the Nepalese have a sense of gratitude for the ODA received in the recent years, we will push for additional assistance in the days ahead," Hiroshi Kouno, a company employee from Japan said.

Kouno is leading the ten-member Japanese ODA monitoring Mission representing the private circle of ordinary tax-payers.

The team of enthusiastic Japanese nationals today observed the facilities at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) and the Radar Control System at the Tribhuvan International Airport, both of which were built and installed under the ODA from Japan.

"There was a time when the Japanese people had to bear the brunt of war, the defeat led them to suffer, having received assistance from foreign donors during those years the Japanese citizens now have a liberal attitude to assist the poor and the needy all around the world," Kouno said.

He made the candid response on being asked what feelings the Japanese carried towards the disbursement of ODA to foreign nations, which could otherwise be spent in Japan.

Kouno was curious to know whether the installation of the Radar facilities at TIA had served as a safety valve to avoid air accidents.

"The installation of the radar at TIA has enhanced air safety and has assisted the Air Traffic Control Officers to expedite air traffic," Mohan Adhikari, Flight Operation Manager at TIA said.

Nepal established the Air Traffic Control office in 1975 and before the installation of the radar in 9th September, 1998, the air traffic control was procedural and relied on the information furnished by the pilots.

Now the route of the aircraft can be spotted by the radar and a red alarm is raised whenever a plane is heading for an unprecedented mishap.

Citing an incident that took place on the 9th of August this year, Adhikari said the radar spotted the Thai Airways flying below the normal height, if the ATC officers had not advised the pilots to ascend then there could have been a fatal accident, he said.

There are currently 28 ATC officers at TIA and the Civil Aviation Academy has been disseminating training to additional trainees.

Kouno said he was very elated about the fact that the installation of the radar had not only ensured the safety of the Nepalese travelling by plane but also the safety of foreigners coming to Nepal.

TIA now has only a primary radar, which can monitor inbound and outbound flights at a certain height and radius. The mountainous topography of Nepal calls for the installation of a secondary surveillance radar, which if installed on a mountain top could cover a larger territory, Adhikari said.

The Japanese team also made a round of the Teaching Hospital earlier in the day and observed the different wards.

Mariko Fuji, one of the members of the team from Ishikawa Prefecture of Japan said she was a bit disheartened when she compared the female wards of TUTH and the hospitals in Japan.

"The patients in the female ward at TUTH do not have privacy and the condition of the rooms is also not good," she said.

Fuji said she would see to what she could do to facilitate the female ward at TUTH after going back to Japan.

Fuji said the OPD was very crowded and people did not have benches to sit down.

Dr. Mahendra Kumar Khanal, TUTH Executive Director said the OPD was designed so as to accommodate only 500 patients but as many as 1,500 patients had been coming for medical check up everyday.

He said the hospital management had been giving a thought towards constructing a general screening OPD, and talks between the government of Japan and Nepal were in progress to meet that end.

He said that there was the need to expand the emergency services of the hospital.

Dr. Khanal said TUTH had emerged as a reliable centre for medical studies, which had till date produced 500 doctors. Impressed by the excellence maintained by TUTH, requests from countries like Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan and Bangladesh were being received to award medical seats to their students.

Kazue Iwata, another member of the team from Fukui Prefecture said unlike in Japan where the family members do not have time to look after their sick relatives and left things up to the nurses, the patients at TUTH were being looked after by their family members which seemed to be quite heartening.

Dr. Hari Govinda Shrestha, Dean of the Institute of Medicine said the suggestions presented by the Japanese ODA monitoring mission would be considered in earnest and the required steps would be taken to improve the facilities at the hospital.

Presently six JOCV volunteers from Japan have been disseminating training to nurses at TUTH.

Rapti River threatens Chitwan's Park's Sauraha

BY NAVIN SINGH KHADKA

Sauraha, Chitwan, Nov.21: The deviated course of the Rapti River has cut on its edge – literally – resulting into the depredation of the eastern forest area and even running into the threat of the human settlements in this heavily populated north-eastern border of the Royal Chitwan National park.

The changed river course ate up more than 50 meters of land at almost every point near this touristic spot last monsoon alone. The anchored logs and tree-branches in the middle of the river are ample proof that a remarkable patch of the forest had indeed been swept away.

The eroded jungle land in the eastern part bordering the river speaks volume about what had happened and what could happen in the future.

"The forest was at least fifty meters ahead from where it is now," said Binod Tiwari, a tour guide with Jungle Safari Lodge, one of the lodges in this crowded tourist hub. "The eastern side part of the water used to be covered with jungles till last year," he said pointing at the new course of the Rapti River – few steps ahead of him.

Which means if a similar flood reoccurs next time, the commercial constructions at the heart of Sauraha may get washed away. Bearing in their mind the potential threat, some of the local tourism entrepreneurs have even built embankments at the riverside.

But these individual efforts will be no match to the swollen river. More so, if it chooses to elbow its eastern bank, like it did last year. The development of the river decidedly looks ominous for the Sauraha inhabitants most of whom are tourism operators.

"It is bound to happen," said Gopal Prasad Updhayay, Chief Warden at the Royal Chitwan National Park. "Such things have happened before at so many other places in the park and it could happen significantly next time."

Interestingly, the local offices of Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation and King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation are at a-crow-flies-away distance from the troubled spot.

And the real bad news is there has been no preventive move so far – not even after the matter is getting out of hand. Not that the officials are unaware of the situation. "We know the potential threat," said Narayan Poudel, Chief Ecologist at the DNPWC. "But this is something that needs higher level intervention. And that means we must first have a clear water resources policy. "

Upadhyay resonates the same message. "This is not something that the Department (DNPWLC) can tackle alone. It should be dealt in an integrated manner."

And the integration for now is nowhere at sight. Not to talk about the "helplessness" of the concerned authorities, even the locals have not voiced their concern as of yet. "Even the local bodies like Village Development Committee are silent on the matter," said Upadhyay.

So much so, the association of local tourism entrepreneurs is mum on the issue. "They simply are busy thinking about making money now," says Tiwari. Sustainability under threat?

No, say ecologists, though. "It is all the part of the ecology," said Dr. Shanta Raj Gyawali, a senior conservationist with KMTNC. If the rivers do not sweep away forests, he said, there would be no grassland for the rhinos – the prime inhabitants of the RCNP. "That is how grass lands form and the ecosystem gets going."

Records have it that around 1,400 hectares of forests have been changed into grassland in between 1978 and 1992 in this national park now covering the area of around 1,100 square kilometres.

"This conversion took place mainly along the edges of the grassland resulting into more open grazing and basking areas for the wild animals," read a resource profile of the park prepared by KMTNC and the UNDP.

But, in the new saga of the deviated Rapti River, it is not only the jungle that will bear the brunt. Along with the trees and plants, the human settlements will also be displaced if the flooded river once again rocks its right land-border.

Visited by the major chunk of the annual inbound 100,000 tourists in this park, this central part of the RCNP houses around 100 resorts and lodges. Of these commercial operations, above one dozen are under the immediate threat in case the Rapti edges further toward the east.

ILO project for sustainable liberation of freed Kamaiyas

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Nov. 21: The International Labour Organisation (ILO) today announced the launch of a project aimed at ensuring the sustainable liberation from bonded labour of some 75,000 men, women and children who were recently freed from decades of grinding poverty and debt bondage when the Nepalese government outlawed the "kamaiya" system.

The US$ 3.5 million project on the 'sustainable elimination of bonded labour in Nepal' is to be funded by the United States Department of Labour (USDOL), and capitalises on the momentum established by Government of Nepal's 17 July 2000 decision outlawing the practice. The decree outlaws bonded labour, forgives any debt and written or oral contracts with landlords or 'zamindars', and mandates a three to ten years prison term for anyone who continues the practice of debt bondage.

Under the Kamaiya system, labourers made oral contracts to work for landlords but often only received wages in kind, mainly foodstuff. This compensation was insufficient to meet other expenses, forcing them to borrow money for their landlord. They thus entered into a vicious spiral of debt and poverty passed from one generation to the next.

The ILO project aims to rehabilitate bonded adult and child labourers, preventing them from re-entering exploitative forms of labour. It proposes direct action targeted at bonded labourers and their families to secure their effective release from bondage, and and sustainable reduce their poverty through training and education, livelihood improvements, and service provision. This is particularly timely since the subject of ILO's Global report in 2001 is Forced Labour

The project will directly benefit approximately 14,000 formerly bonded families of which 8,000 currently have no home or land. Among these families are approximately 16,000 formerly bonded children. The total represents about 90 per cent of the adult Kamaiya population, and over 75 per cent of the child bonded labourers in five targeted and three nearby districts, mostly in Western Nepal.

"This project represents a milestone in efforts to find an end to an archaic, feudal practice that has enslaved thousands of agricultural workers over decades, and will provide decent work to men, women and children who could only dream of being free from perpetual poverty and debt before, said Roger Bohning, Director of ILO's InFocus programme on Promoting the Declaration of Fundamental principles and Rights at Work which, together with the International Programme on Eliminating Child labour(IPEC), dveloped the project.

"In addition, this project underscores the priority attached to promoting fundamental labour standards throughout Asia."

The ILO project will be implemented by several local agencies. These include various departments of the HMG, worker's and employer's organisations and NGOs. It will receive technical support from the ILO's InFocus Programmes on Promoting the Declaration, its international Programme on the elimination of Child Labour(IPEC) and other ILO units.

The project adopts an integrated approach to tackling the problems faced by these poverty stricken households. Priority target groups will be more vulnerable Kamaiya women and girls under 18 years, especially 10-14 year olds and five hundred girl children working as domestics in urban areas.

The project builds upon the achievements of other ILO Projects in Nepal including IPEC projects funded by the 'Italian Social Partners Initiative' and Italian Government, aimed specifically at eliminating child bonded labour. Although ILO's interventions so far have been relatively small and concentrated in some VDCs of the Kamaiya prone districts, they have had a significant impact on the lives of Kamaiya families.

Shailaja kicks off election campaign

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Nov. 21: Shailaja Acharya, member of the Central Committee of Nepali Congress and former vice president of Nepali Congress has declared her five point pledge as a curtain raiser for her upcoming election campaign.

Referring to her candidacy for NC president, Nepali Congress leader Acharya in a press statement said she has taken this difficult but firm decision to change the existing situation in the Nepali Congress.

"I have not taken this decision because I want a position. There is a crucial need to usher in an era of new conviction, confidence and commitment and take the party forward, she said.

"I had discussed my candidacy eight months back with the party president and Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and I appeal to him to support and co-operate," Acharya said.

"My vision is that of a vibrant, united and powerful party where there is no groupism-- a party which is committed to socialist ideals. I will take steps to correct the faults in the policies to eliminate poverty in my country," she said.

Acharya's election campaign will begin with a 15 day fasting on 10th December at NC Party office, Teku.

"I want the NC to be a conveyor of total revolution-- social, economic and cultural. A new golden chapter of clean politics shall then begin and the anomalies of corruption and dirty game shall end," Acharya said

"I also stand for women empowerment and greater participation of women in decision making levels and am for change in the statutes or whatever it takes to achieve this objective, Acharya said.

She said she has taken this vow as an act of absolution and accepts the responsibility for the mistakes that Nepali Congress made in the last ten years, for the corruption and anomalies, for the killings of people and NC workers by Maoists.

Germany commits more aid

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Nov 21: The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany has informed His Majesty's Government today that, in addition to funds for financial cooperation for the two-year period 2000 / 2001 committed earlier this year totalling DM 33.0 million, a further amount of DM 12.0 million will be made available to the Kingdom of Nepal as a financial contribution to the implementation of already existing projects within the bilateral financial cooperation programme.

Out of the additional DM 12.0 million a sum of DM 8.0 million is to be earmarked for financing a medium-sized run-of-river hydropower station within the framework of the project "Renewable Energy", and DM 4.0 million are to be used for the establishment of small hydropower plants, according to press statement released by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany today.

The announcement coincided with the visit to Nepal of a German delegation headed by Elke Roentgen from the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development.