China positive about helping Nepal to build industrial park: Mahat

KATHMANDU, Aug 11: Minister for Finance Ram Sharan Mahat has said that his visit to China will open new dimensions in Nepal-China relationship.

Speaking at a reception organized by the Nepali Embassy in Beijing, Mahat said China was positive about providing support to establish industrial park in Nepal. “We will finalize the location for the industrial park very soon as per the mutual understanding,” he added.

The location could be in Panchkhal, Butwal or in Chovar, Mahat said at the reception, according to a statement issued by the finance minister´s secretariat on Sunday.

Mahat also said Nepal and China will give continuity to bilateral meetings in bureaucratic as well as political level. “There was a long gap. My visit is basically focused on building bilateral trade relations, boost Nepali export to China and attract Chinese investment in Nepal,” Mahat said in the program, according to the statement.

Mahat at a reception in the Nepali Embassy in China.(Photo Courtesy: Finance Ministry Secretariat)

Mahat is on a week-long to the northern neighbor on the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Lou Jiwei. He requested Jiwei to send investors in Nepal, saying that investors get duty free market in South Asia under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement. “As a least developed country, Nepali goods and services get preferential market access in developed countries,” the statement quoted Mahat as saying in the program. “The proposed industrial park is to woo foreign investors.”

Meanwhile, Mahat also directed the Nepali Embassy in China to play proactive in strengthening economic and diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Nepali Ambassador to China Mahesh Maskey, joint secretary of the Ministry of Finance Madhu Kumar Marasini, under secretary Lal Bahadur Khatri, and embassy staffers, were present in the program, according to the statement.

(Source: Republica)