Nepal-China Cooperation
NEPAL and China have reaffirmed their
commitment to further expand and consolidate bilateral economic relation and cooperation
through various measures. In this connection, the fifth meeting of Nepal—China
Non-Governmental Cooperation Forum was held in Kathmandu the other day, in which delegates
from both the countries exchanged views on issues relating to increasing volume of
bilateral trade, promoting joint investment and narrowing Nepal’s trade deficit with
China. Nepal and China are close neighbours and good friends throughout the history. China
has been a true partner of Nepal’s development efforts and has supported Nepal in
building physical infrastructures and helped to develop other social and economic sectors.
These relations have been growing every year. Both the countries now have been working
closely to further strengthen and expand these economic and trade relations at both
official and people’s level for the common interest of the two close neighbours. With
the objective of promoting trade and economic cooperation at non-governmental level, the
bilateral non-governmental cooperation forum was formed a few years ago. Since then there
have been positive developments and progress in the field of trade and investment. There
are lots of potentials for Nepal-China trade and joint investment. Several Chinese
companies have already started joint venture in Nepal and some more are on the pipeline.
Only recently, China added Nepal to the list of tourist destinations for the Chinese
people. An agreement between Nepal and China to promote bilateral tourism has recently
been signed. Similarly, the fifth meeting of Nepal-China Non-Governmental Cooperation
Forum has taken a number of decisions to further promote economic cooperation between the
two nations. The decision, among others, includes formulation of a joint study groups with
the mandate to identify new areas of cooperation, investment, promote bilateral trade and
deal with the problems that might crop up in the field of bilateral trade in the future.
The study groups have also been authorised to develop a package programme for attracting
Chinese tourists to Nepal and expand tourist-related services. These are, no doubt,
positive and forward-looking initiatives for the promotion of bilateral trade and economic
cooperation between Nepal and China. Nepal is seeking foreign investment and trying to
attract more tourists in order to boost its economy. At the same time, Nepal’s huge
trade deficit with China also needs to be narrowed. Thus, these initiatives, without any
shade of doubt, would go a long way in developing and consolidating Nepal-China relations
and cooperation in the future.
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