Kathmandu, February 5

The Ministry of Industry (MoI) and Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) today signed an agreement to promote Nepali products in different sister cities of KMC. The agreement paper was signed by MoI Joint Secretary Dinesh Ghimire and Chief and Executive Officer of KMC Rudra Singh Tamang.

Following the agreement, KMC will be responsible for the establishment and operation of exhibitions and sales centres of Nepali products in different sister cities of KMC around the world. KMC has signed sister city agreement with 16 cities around the world including in the United States, Japan, China, India, Myanmar and South Korea, among others.

According to officials of both MoI and KMC, the agreement envisions to take advantage of established relationship and cooperation between sister cities around the world and KMC for the promotion of Nepali products through exhibitions and sales channels in those cities. “This would expand and strengthen the area of cooperation between KMC and sister cities on one hand and attract the attention of international buyers for Nepali products and ultimately promote Nepali products in the global market on the other hand,” Ghimire said.

As per the agreement, KMC will have to identify occasional and regular exhibition and sales centres in the sister cities to promote Nepali products by displaying and/or selling them. Similarly, both KMC and MoI will facilitate Nepali industries in tapping business opportunities in the various sister cities of KMC across the world. However, KMC will have to determine the suitability of location in that specific city, availability of exhibition and sales space, and city-specific demand of Nepali products.

As per the agreement, MoI and KMC will support each other for new product development, skill development and business start-ups and entrepreneurship development programmes targeting customers of those sister cities.

Addressing the agreement signing ceremony, Minister for Industry Nabindra Raj Joshi, said that effective implementation of the agreement will expand the market for domestic products, which is a must to achieve industrial growth in Nepal.