Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, May 5:

Business sector representatives involved in export sector for the past several years have explicitly sought India’s help in smoothly operating the Inland Container Depot (ICD) located at Birgunj, established with World Bank loans.

In a bid to sort out the problems surrounding the ICD operation, a discussion is going to take place in Kolkata on May 7 in which various experts from Indian railway, port and ICD sectors will take part.

In this connection, a delegation of Nepali government officials, led by the director general of Department of Customs Krishna Hari Baskota is leaving for Kolkata tomorrow.

Included in the delegation are Surya Bahadur Manandhar, executive director of Nepal Inter-Modal Transport Development Board (NITDB) and Namgyal Lama, president of Nepal Freight Forwarders Association (NEFFA), on behalf of the private sector. Other executives members of Birgunj Chambers of Commerce and Industry, including its president will also accompany the delegation, informed Surya Bahadur Manandhar, executive director of NITDB.

Manandhar told The Himalayan Times that it is an exclusive meet of senior experts from shipping lines of India, traders, industrialists and senior officials from Kolkata. The meeting will exclusively hold discussions on ‘Nepalese Trade Through ICD: Challenges and Opportunities’, informed Manandhar.

Lama of NEFFA exclusively sought India’s help for the smooth operation of ICD as there is an increased incidence of pilferage/theft of goods on the way to India. He said that he would present a paper on the problems surrounding the ICD operation. “Seal tampering of shipments on the way to India has to be stopped,” Lama demanded.

Participants from Kolkata were Port chairman Dr A K Chandra, chief of commission of Kolkata customs Subroto Basu, Royal Nepalese Consular General based in Kolkata Govinda Kusum, South Easter Railway general manager R R Bhandari, Eastern Railway general manager Shyam Kumar and J K Mohanti, general manager of Container Corporation (CONCOR) of India.