DAMAK, DECEMBER 1

Chief Minister of Koshi Province, Hikmat Kumar Karki, has admitted that although tea was produced as per expectation, its market was slack.

Inaugurating the 28th annual general meeting of Mangmalung Tea Estate Ltd here Saturday, CM Karki said some tea industries were facing slowdown for lack of international marketing. He argued that Nepali tea had high quality.

"Industries in this sector must pay heed on how they could adopt aggressive marketing of tea to reach the products beyond borders," he underlined.

The CM further reminded that Nepal has the history of 175 years of tea plantation, so we have no alternative but to expand the marketing. Koshi Province covers nearly 90 percent of tea production in Nepal.

According to him, the industries should establish their brands in addition to seeking markets.

Karki further informed that an international level tea conference would be held in Ilam coming April.

Tea is one of the major cash crops of Nepal.