KATHMANDU; To strengthen economic and trading ties between Nepal and Tibet, the autonomous Region of People’s Republic of China, the Nepal-Tibet Trade Fair 2009 will be organised in Shigatse from September 3 to 7.

This kind of trade fair has already been organised in 1993, 1997, 2001, 2005 at Lhasa.

The first Memorandum of Understanding was signed in 1990 between the two governments for holding such fairs in Lhasa and Kathmandu alternately every two years. According to a press statement, the MOU was signed on April 8, 2009 between Department of Commerce, Tibet, the Autonomous Region of People’s Republic of China, and Nepal’s Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) for this year.

MoCS secretary Purushottam Ojha is leading a four-member delegation including MoCS joint secretary Surya Prasad Silwal and executive director Ramesh Kumar Shrestha and deputy executive director M N Bhattarai of Trade and Export Promotion Centre.

Different organisations like Federation of Handicrafts Association of Nepal (FHAN), Nepal Chambers of Commerce (NCC), Nepal-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCCI), Federation of Small, Medium, Entrepreneurs Nepal (FSMEN), Nepal Trans-Himalayan Trade Association (NTHTA), Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) will participate in the trade fair. According to the release, 59 companies with 194 members will actively participate in the fair.