Kathmandu, October 24:

Government officials, civil society representatives and concerned experts involved in trade and business activities feel that Nepal has to work hard for reaping the benefits of the membership to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as a least developed country (LDC). Dr Shankar Sharma, vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC) who was addressing a programme on ‘Road to Hong Kong with Special reference to Trade Facilitation: Private Sector’s Perspective’ expressed the view that if the private sector, the government and civil society could move jointly, it would greatly help in economic advancement of Nepal.

Dr Sharma expressing great concerns over the quota phase out of garment exports to US, “Decline in the export of garment sector by over 37 per cent has troubled us.” All concerned should concentrate on boosting exports by strengthening capacity, he said, “efforts should be made towards reviving the quota system for a country like Nepal.”

He suggested that removal of supply-side constraints that have affected our endeavours to boost exports must be seriously taken up. He hoped that the rules of origin should be more flexible, simplified and realistic when it comes to market promotion of products. Infrastructure development is an important issue when it comes to enhancing capacity of our enterprises, making them competitive in the global market, said Dr Sharma.

He said that a country like Nepal should be able to join hands with other countries to drive WTO issues effectively and lobby with concerned authorities to reap better benefits.

Rajesh Kaji Shrestha, president of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC), speaking at the function hoped that the government would help the private sector in lobbying for market facilitation issues, market identification and mechanisms to boost market before going to participate at the forthcoming WTO ministerial meet to be held in Hong Kong in December. Shrestha stressed on the need to improve domestic products’ quality.

During the Hong Kong WTO ministerial meeting, ‘July Package’ will be focused upon that concentrates on agriculture, non-agriculture market access, service sector and trade facilitation and development perspective. He stressed on the need to avail technical assistance from WTO as an LDC in the areas of capacity building, market promotion, infrastructure development and productivity enhancement.

Navin Dahal, executive director of South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment, said that customs rate on products being exported from LDCs to developed countries is still high. Concentration on reducing customs duty within the coming 10 years is a pertinent issue for discussion these days, he said.

Bharat Bahadur Thapa, secretary at the ministry of industry, commerce and supplies said that we needed to take up a common agenda for the whole SAARC region while attending the forthcoming WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong. We need to focus on capacity building which will help us to go global, said Thapa.

At the same function, expert Bijendra Man Shakya, presented a paper on ‘trade facilitation, garment sector from Nepal’s perspective’, while Suresh Man Shrestha, DG of printing department presented a paper on ‘service sector in Nepal’s perspective’ and Dr Krishna Pra-sad Pant, joint secretary at the ministry of agriculture and cooperatives presented a paper on the agriculture sector.