BANNER

INTRODUCTION
October / November 2002

NEPAL

 

Her Majesty inaugurates Agroexpo 2002

Her Majesty Queen Komal Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah inaugurated the Agroexpo 2002 at the Birendra International Convention Centre on September 18, 2002.

The Agroexpo, whose theme was ‘Economic Prosperity through Agriculture’ which was organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Agro Enterprises Centre (AEC), and coordinated by the Floriculture Association Nepal (FAN).

The center was established 11 years ago with US aid.

Nepal’s agricultural products, seeds and seedlings, flowers, honey, tea, coffee, non-seasonal vegetables, dairy products, fruits, herbs and cocoon products were displayed at the 5 day exhibition fair.

In addition, glimpses of the advancements brought about in the agriculture sector and pertinent information about prospects of agro-enterprises in the development of rural economy and untapped opportunities in agriculture gave to visitors.

The flower show organized annually in the capital had also been amalgamated into the exhibition.

It is believed that the fair became instrumental not only in bringing producers, manufacturers, sellers and consumers at tone place but also in fostering awareness about markets, innovative technologies, product mix and market diversification.

Govt unveils economic reform package

Following the formation of the new government on October this year His Majesty’s Government recently unveiled its 10 point comprehensive economic package for the coming six months.

Announcing the Economic Reform Programme – 2059, Minister for Finance Dr. Badri Prasad Shrestha declared that the reform programmes would begin right from (November 1) under close vigilance.

Major Reform Agenda:

  • To establish a National Vigilance Center at the PM’s office.
  • To intensify the corruption control programme within two weeks
  • To reduce the size of general expenditure by reducing unnecessary expenses.
  • To privatize eight PEs within six months
  • To set up a Poverty Alleviation Fund
  • Except for security purposes, no new vehicles will be bought and no buildings for government offices will be built.
  • The National Planning Commission will develop performance indicators to evaluate programmes
  • Unnecessary staff at government, PEs and development projects will be controlled.
  • Revenue tribunal body will be strengthened
  • No vacancy will be announced for the non-gazettled level staff at least for six months
  • Local bodies will be strengthned and poor and background communities will be given priority to the development activities.

Minister Shrestha elaborated that the government would focus its priority on poverty alleviation, corruption control, peace and security, decentralization and good governance.

The ten-point reform package includes various agenda such as macro-economic reform and planning management, good governance and administrative reform, improvement in public expenditure management, improvement in mobilization of resources, fiscal transperancy accountability and improvement in auditing, reform in the public enterprises management, reform in the fiscal sector, private sector development, efficiency in service delivery and evaluation of performance.

SAARC Economic Cooperation Meeting concluded

The 11th meeting of the Committee on Economic Cooperation (CEO) of the SAARC concluded recently in Kathmandu with new agenda for regional economic integration promotion investment and avoidance of double taxation.

The meeting was inaugurated by the Minister for Finance Dr. Badri Prasad Shrestha.

Commerce secretaries of all seven member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) discussed various issues including the SAPTA to SAFTA and relations with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the European Union.

At the meeting, commerce secretaries agreed for concerted efforts of all the nations towards regional trade and expansion and an effective operationalisation of the South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA).

SAARC commerce secretaries were meeting after more than three years. The 10th meeting was held in February 1999 in Dhaka.

The first meeting of the commerce secretaries was held in Kathmandu in 1991.

During the two-day summit, the commerce secretaries also reviewed the progress made in areas of trade and economy. Apart from this, they made recommendations for the 12th SAARC summit to be held in Islamabad in January 2003.

SAARC trade fair ends

Tens of thousands of visitors, including foreigners, came to the five-day fourth SAARC trade fair that concluded on 29 October, 2002 in Kathmandu. There was no free space to stand on at the venue due to the crowd.

The fair was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand on October 25, 2002.

The fair has concluded with the hope that it will boost inter-country trade among the member countries of the SAARC while strengthening the concept of free trade in the region.

The fair was organized jointly by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies and the Trade Promotion Centre (TPC). It was aimed at realising the agreement reached during the sixth SAARC summit, and to consequently take steps to create a free trade area through economic liberalization, free trade arrangements and reduction of double taxes imposed on goods.

The fair was also aimed at expanding and integrating the development potentiality and market complementarities in the member countries.

The SAARC countries presented export quality products at the fair. There were 78 stalls from India, 76 from Nepal, 24 from Bangladesh, 11 from Bhutan and four from Sri Lanka. One of the member countries, the Maldives, did not participate.

The fourth fair was fruitful in introducing the products of one country in the market of another SAARC country.

The fair was a series in the path of making full use of regional synergy to maximize the benefits of globlization and liberalization and to minimize their negative impacts in the region. The fair is expected to help achieve create a free trade area and ensure equitable distribution of trade benefits to all states.

The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FNCCI) hosted a reception in honour of the Commerce Secretaries of SAARC counties who had come in Nepal to take part in the fair.

Greater and closer regional trade cooperation stressed

Trade experts of the SAARC countries gathered in an interaction program on ‘Role of Trade Pomotion Organisations: Challenges in the New Economy’ have stressed the need of greater and closer co-operation among the member countries for a common strategy to cope with the new challenges emerging from globalisation.

The program was jointly organized in Kathmandu recently by Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI).

MoA for Public-Private Partnerships for Urban Environment

Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed between PPPUE and Pokhara University for Collaborative Learning Programme.

Concerned with the highly growing need and importance of Public-Private Partnerships for Urban Environment, Pokhara University, School of Business and Public-Private Partnerships for Urban Environment, which is an UNDP assisted, Ministry of Local Development, HMG/N executed programme, has signed a memorandum of agreement for implementation of Collaborative Learning Programme on Public-Private partnerships for Urban Environmental Services in Pokhara University, School of Business on 5 September 2002.

The Collaborative Learning Programme is a joint effort of Public-Private Partnerships for the Urban Environment (PPPUE) and Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. This programme is pioneering new ways for local government, the private sector and civil society to join forces to address problems facing the poor in cities on every continent. The Collaborative Learning course is part of PPPUE’s effort to establish a Global Learning Network to foster exchange of best practices and lessons learned on the development of public private partnerships.

Nepal-Bangladesh sign MoU to promote trade

The Commerce Secretaries of Nepal and Bangladesh signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for expanding bilateral trade volume between the two countries after the two-day talks that concluded recently in Kathmandu.

Both the sides agreed in principle to provide tariff concessions on major exports and emphasized need for developing Kakarbhitta-Phulbari Banglanabdh route as a primary transportation corridor for carrying out trade, as per the MoU.

The two sides also agreed to operate short-distance flights connecting eastern Nepal with Bangladesh.

The meeting concluded in a positive note with both the sides agreeing to slash down the customs tariff on primary exportable items.

Bangladesh at present has been imposing heavy tariff including customs duty up to 40 percent on Nepali agriculture products which has been discouraging the Nepali exports. The Nepali business community had been asking the government to arrange for preferential treatment to the Nepali exports.

The meeting decided to simplify the existing trading procedures to ensure easy market access for bilateral trade. "Bangladesh has proposed two possible mechanisms for simplifying the trading arrangements".

Currently, the trading between Nepal and Bangladesh is guided by the Bilateral Trade Payment Agreement 1976, and the Nepali business community had been requesting for revising the same for boosting the trade relationship.

Despite being near in distance compared to other ports, Nepal Bangladesh trade volume stands merely over Rs. 723 million with Nepal having a surplus of some Rs. 520 million.

Nepali exports to Bangladesh comprises hardly one percent of total Nepali exports while imports from Bangladesh stands only at 0.2 percent of the total imports.

The meeting also decided to develop necessary infrastructure for efficient use of Phulbari Banglabandh road and Radhikapur Birol railway route to promote trade.

Govt-ILO sign deal to stop child labour

His Majesty’s Government and the International Labour Organisation recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to eliminate child labour in Nepal. The MoU to extend the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) for the next five years was signed by Secretary in the Ministry of Laour and Transport Prem Nidhi Gyawali and ILO Director Ms. Leyla Tegmo-Reddy.

The programme will help sustain the Commitment of the government towards eliminating the worst forms of child labour in Nepal in the first five years. Nepal has drawn up a 10 year master plan against child labour beginning 2001. Nepal has one of the highest child labourers in the world, with figures put as high as 2.6 million. Most of the children work as porters, domestics and in teashops. Quite a few work in hazardous industries and stone quarries.

Nepal, Thailand sign MoU to boost tourism

Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) and Thai-Nepal Chamber of Commerce (TNCC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost tourism at Bangkok recently.

Narendra Bajracharya, president of HAN and Krishna Sivakriskal, president of TNCC signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organizations.

According to the MoU, both the parties shall exchange information regarding the development and trends in hotel business, hospitality and tourism sectors.

"The parties shall encourage interaction between their respective associations for tourism promotion and exploring investment opportunities. The parties shall share experiences and expertise in organizing tours, meetings, conferences, and seminars relevant to hotel and tourism and support promotional activities such as participation in tourism meets, exhibitions, buyer-seller meets and workshops etc.

Similarly, some 60 travel agents and tour operators participated in an interactive programme organized to promote Nepali tourism industry. The participants discussed matter related to security and tourism.