KATHMANDU, MAY 26
Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka has expressed concerns over Nepal's ballooning trade gap with India and urged all concerned stakeholders to do their bit to narrow the deficit with the southern neighbour.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the 26th and 27th annual general meeting (AGM) of Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industries (NICCI) held here today, Minister Khadka said India is Nepal's important trade partner, but that our trade deficit with the neighbouring country is alarming.
"For example, Nepal's trade deficit with India in the first nine months of the current fiscal year amounted to a whopping Rs 774 billon as our export to the southern neighbour during that period was only worth around Rs 128 million," he said, urging all stakeholders to work together to reduce the deficit.
Minister Khadka said that NICCI has been an important forum that has been contributing to enhance bilateral trade between Nepal and India as well as attracting foreign investment in Nepal. He expressed his belief that NICCI will play a vital role in fostering partnership between the two countries for mutual benefit to ease supply chain disruptions caused by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
He also said that the government, in a bid to enhance trade and economic activities with India, has prioritised connectivity infrastructure including roads, railways, waterways and transmission lines.
"Cross-border transmission infrastructure is being strengthened with new and upgraded transmission lines. Also, the two governments are working for greater cooperation in numerous large projects such as construction of integrated check posts (ICPs) and development of rail links."
Suresh Prabhu, the former Indian minister of civil aviation, railways, commerce and industry, said tapping remittances and medical tourism could be pivotal for bolstering Nepal's foreign exchange reserves. "India is one of the largest recipients of remittances and Nepal could significantly shore up its forex reserves if it can properly market its skilled workers abroad," he opined.
President of NICCI Shreejana Rana said the chamber is working to facilitate and encourage exports of medium and small-scale enterprises and precious handcrafts of Nepal.
However she said Nepal has been lagging behind for 25 years in terms of export and stressed on need to simplify procedures in existing Trade Treaty with India.
The AGM re-elected an executive committee under leadership of Rana, who is also the executive director of Hotel Annapurna. The committee comprises Achyut Kharel, Arun KC, Hemraj Dhakal, Harit Singh Bedi, Kunal Kayal, Mahesh Basnet, Ramesh Sharma, Sahiwal Ghosh and Sunil KC as members.
A version of this article appears in the print on May 27, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
