Govt apathy widens trade deficit with China

BANEPA, Jan 20: 

Traders have called on the government to address more than three dozen pressing issues ranging from construction of required infrastructure at Tatopani customs office to renovation of Araniko highway to boost bilateral trade with China, the northern neighbor. 

These problems, they said, were ultimately widening Nepal´s trade deficit with China. 

"The government´s apathy is the major reason for widening trade deficit with China," Keshab Bahadur Rayamajhi, first vice president of the Nepal Trans-Himalayan Border Commerce Association (NTHBCA), told a workshop held in Banepa on Saturday. 

Presenting a paper on ´Problems and Prospects of Nepal-China Trade´, Rayamajhi said the government was never serious about addressing rampant problems that were withholding the country from increasing its trade with China. 

"The infrastructure at the Tatopani customs office should be improved, check posts on Araniko highway should be enhanced, visa issues should be resolved and use of Yuan at border areas should be legalized," Rayamajhi added. "There are dozen of problems that we face everyday while trading with Chinese counterparts." 

Addressing the workshop, Chief Secretary Lila Mani Paudel said the government would soon work to resolve the problems, while acknowledging weaknesses of the government.

“There are problems at the border area and police on highway are not entirely professional. We will try to address these problems soon," he said. 

He, however, asked traders not to get obsessed with the idea of getting rich overnight. "Traders should maintain their ethical standards as well," Paudel said. 

China, so far, has provided zero tariff facility to 7,787 Nepali goods and is a major destination for Nepali products such as ginger, lentils and medicinal herbs, among others. 

"However, we haven´t been able to tap the vast Chinese market due to problems in our territory," Rayamajhi said. 

According to statistics compiled by the Trade and Export Promotion Centre, Nepal exported goods worth Rs 1.21 billion to China and imported goods worth Rs 30.59 billion from China in the first five months of the current fiscal year. 

"The widening trade deficit with China can´t be reduced if we are not able to eliminate problems lurking in our country," Rayamajhi argued. 

Home Secretary Nabin Ghimire, meanwhile, said he would raise the issue on Lhasa visa problem at the concerned agency as soon as possible. 

"The government will also digitize police check posts on the highway soon to minimize hassles," Ghimire said.

Source: Republica