Nepal, Pakistan indentify potential sectors for fusing better trade ties
Himalayan News Service
Kathmandu, March 30:
Nepali and Pakistan ministers have agreed to work together to boost trade between the two countries in the days ahead. At a luncheon meeting held by Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Hina Rabbani Khar, Pak state minister of economic affairs said that Nepal is an important partner for Pakistan in South Asia.
Khar said that potential sectors for investment in Nepal are tourism, agriculture, education and technical manpower which will help both countries in expanding trade and economic ties.
She said that the meeting of Nepal-Pakistan Joint Economic Council, after 10 years, had been successful. She also said that this meeting should be held regularly. Khar hoped to increase institutional relationships like the ones between FNCCI and Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) to boost investment, trade, tourism and economic activities.
At the same function, minister for finance Madhukar SJB Rana said that Nepal holds a great opportunity to promote bilateral economic relations with Pakistan. Rana said that transit between Pakistan and Nepal should not be a bottleneck to growth and economic development.
The business-to-business relations between FNCCI PFCCI should be expanded effectively, he said. The minister demanded preferential treatment for Nepali products as Nepal is a least developed country. He said that investment projects for both the countries could be trade, tourism, manpower development, technology development, textile, carpet, garment, leather and agro products. Binod Bahadur Shrestha, pre-sident of FNCCI, said that the two countries have realised the importance of business ties. He said that Pakistan is not only a close neighbour but a reliable partner also.
“As Nepal and Pakistan have already signed the SAFTA framework agreement, we should not create barriers to free flow of goods through complex and protective rules of origin, excluding a very large list of goods from the free trade regi-me,” Shrestha added.
