BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Be there virtually

-By A Staff Reporter

Why on earth would anyone hook on their Internet with  home appliances like refrigerator or alarm-clock? For no small reasons. If you have a flight at four in the morning, your Internet keeps a track of your flight timing. If it is delayed by an hour or more, it will wake you up an hour or more later and not disturb your sleep at the ungodly hour.  But, the fridge? Not to chill out your Internet but to keep a track of your eatables and let you or your grocer know well ahead of time! No more empty space to glare at when you are dying of hunger! This state of affairs might take some time but it is not so far flung in the future. Internet can already be attached to your cell phones, digital diaries and so on.

Internet users in Asia are rising dramatically. According to a survey conducted by Amadeus, India;  by 2005, they would have risen five fold, from 33.6 to 171 million. Though the pioneer communications group, Mercantile in Nepal has its active presence in 6 other places in the country besides the capital, it is still a privy of the technically savvy.  During a presentation programme on Usefulness of Internet for travel agents organised by Nepal Association of Travel Agents; Sanjib Rajbhandary of Mercantile talked about the threat and opportunity for the travel agents that the Internet posed.

Internet becomes a threat by breaking down communication barriers between the provider and goods, services and the end user. Opportunity wise, it becomes a level playing ground. Travel agents can be a part of the services and compete with the international travel agencies. Nepali travel agents can either ignore the Internet, not a wise thing to do obviously; join hands with others with strong virtual presence or set up strong virtual presence of their own.

Internet for most remains a mere brochure ware. It needs to be more service driven, more interactive for it to be really productive. The problems that e-commerce enabled agencies face here today is that customers want to complete transactions instantly and that poses some hurdles currently. NATA/NTB could set up a portal for Nepalese industry or do it in small consortiums. It is never too late to go online. 

WTO provides predictable trading environment

With the ministerial level talks of the WTO looming large, commerce ministers the world over have their eyes and ears focussed on Seattle. Nepal  is not yet a member of the multilateral body, but the level of debate within the Nepalese government is much higher than it was even in India till fairly recently. This is not surprising since Nepal hopes to be admitted to the WTO soon. Ram Krishna Tamrakar, commerce minister, government of Nepal, speaks to Mythili Bhusnurmath in Kathmandu on his country’s hopes and plans in the context of the talks.

~ By when does Nepal expect to become a member of the WTO? What are the roadblocks?

~ We have not yet had the first Working Party Meeting for WTO accession. It has been scheduled for the first quarter of 2000. This meeting, we hope, will provide us an indicative time frame for Nepal’s accession. WTO accession is a complex and complicated process requiring preparation of lots of technical papers. I do not see any roadblocks for Nepal’s accession except the expertise required.

~ Has the late entry helped you learn from the experience of other developing countries.

~ Since no LDC has yet acceded to WTO, Nepal has not had the opportunity to learn from the experience of other least developed countries as far as the accession process is concerned. Or course, with regard to the implications and implementation of WTO agreements and the required safeguard measures, we are in a beneficial position.

~ What do you anticipate will be the gains for your country?

~ WTO membership offers an expansion of trading opportunities because of low tariffs and elimination of non-tariff barriers. It ensures a more secure and predictable trading environment, it enhances the security of trade relations. Moreover, there are specific disadvantages of non-membership as well as the adverse image.

~ Given that the bulk of your trade is with India and China and the trade policies that you have with these two neighbours may not be WTO compatible, what changes to you foresee either in your trade flows or policies?

~ We wish to maintain our trade regime with India and China even within the WTO framework. I understand that it could be done through an enabling clause of the Tokyo round. So, this will provide compatibility to WTO rules.

~ Where lie Nepal’s advantages-in textiles, carpets, jewellery, etc?

~ We have comparative advantages, as current trade flows indicate, in textiles, carpets, jewellery and agriculture commodities. We need to restructure industry and adopt policies to enhance our competitive position.

~ What is Nepal’s position on the so called new issues? Do you think it is possible from SAARC countries to forge a common agenda?

~ We uphold the view that WTO should not be overburdened with issues remotely related to trade and we should be able to define the limits of WTO. SAARC countries have been closely working together to identify the common agenda for WTO. The outcome of the ministerial meeting held in Male is a manifestation of the possibility of forging a common SAARC agenda.

~ What is the level of importance your ministry attaches to consultations and dialogue with civil society on WTO issues?

~ As you know WTO membership affects, positively and/or negatively, all strata of society. Thus, we attach high importance to the role of civil society in the accession process. The government is eager to work with civil society and has already formed a consultative group for WTO accession comprising of, inter alia, the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry and representatives from academia.

~ What is the level of inter-departmental coordination within Nepal on WTO issues?

~ We have a high level committee at the policy level under the chairmanship of the secretary, ministry of commerce to look after the WTO accession process. Similarly, at the working level, we have another committee under the chairmanship of WTO Division Chief comprising of members from various ministries and institutions.

— The Economic Times