Kathmandu, July 7

The International Trade Centre (ITC) has been supporting the government to develop sector export strategies (SES) of four products with export potential, namely coffee, tea, large cardamom and hand-made paper and paper products. These products have also been included in the Trade Policy and Nepal Trade Integration Strategy (NTIS), 2016.

To develop the SES, ITC has started commissioning studies on the entire value chain process of the aforementioned products.

The ITC team recently visited the production areas (pocket areas) of coffee, tea, large cardamom and handmade papers and held interactions with stakeholders. Jhapa, Ilam, Kaski and Kathmandu were chosen for the study on production of large cardamom, tea, coffee and handmade papers, respectively.

As per the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with the Ministry of Commerce (MoC), ITC — a United Nations agency — will submit the SES documents with plans of action to the government by December of this year, according to Mina Aryal, undersecretary at the ministry.

“The SES will help the government to mobilise development partners’ resources, bring in foreign direct investment and attract private sector investment in different links of the value chains — from production to consumers — of products with export potential.”

Currently, Japan, European Union, and the United States are the major export destinations for Nepali coffee and handmade papers. Similarly, large cardamom, which has emerged as one of the major export commodities, is being exported to India and the United Arab Emirates. Russia and Austria are the major markets for Nepali tea.

Along with SES, the ITC will also conduct a study on non-tariff measures (NTMs) for the export of some items with export potential. Coffee, handicraft, pashmina and woollen products, large cardamom, honey, ginger and tea have been selected for the NTMs study. The ITC will conduct the study on non-tariff barriers to export the aforesaid products in the major export destinations.