Nepal asks US to hold TIFA meeting soon

KATHMANDU, MAR 05 - The Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) has written to US authorities to hold the second joint council meeting of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement ( TIFA ) soon.

TIFA , a bilateral agreement between the two countries, is aimed at promoting trade and investment. The first meeting of the TIFA Council was held on April 17, 2011 in Washington, USA.

Although the next meeting was supposed to be held in 2013, it did not happen due to “apathy” of the US side, according to Nepali government officials.

“We have recently sent a letter to the United States Trade Representative, the US counterpart, to fix the date,” said Abha Shrestha, under-secretary at the MoCS.

According to her, the second meeting should be held in Nepal.

MoCS officials said that the ministry sent the official letter through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after US officials recently expressed concern over the issue at the diplomatic level in the US.  

Ministry officials said that holding the meeting at the earliest was critical as a trade strategy needs to be developed to promote trade and investment between the two countries.

The ministry has been writing time and again to the US authorities to hold the TIFA meeting on the scheduled date.

Meanwhile, Shankar Sharma, former ambassador to the United States said that the US government had shown a positive note to conduct the TIFA meeting this year.

According to him, the country did not show concern on holding the meeting due to lack of an elected government last year.

“After the formation of the government following the election to the Constituent Assembly, they are showing interest in the subject,” he added.

Bilateral discussions on providing the Generalised System of Preference facility to Nepali products and providing support to Nepali traders for promotional activities in the US could be the main items on the agenda of the TIFA meeting. “However, we are yet to finalise the issues,” said Shrestha.

Nepal has been asking the US government to provide preferential treatment to 11 products including pashmina and readymade garments in the US. Sharma said that the possibility of providing GSP to readymade garments was minimal.

“However, the US government is keen to provide technical

assistance for other export potential items including carpets and handicrafts to which the US has also been providing the facility,” he said. The US is Nepal’s second largest export market. In the fiscal year 2012-13, Nepal exported goods worth Rs 5.75 billion to the US.

Nepal has been exporting products like readymade garments, handicraft items, herbs, pashmina and woollen carpets to the US.

Nepal is the fourth South Asian country to enter into the TIFA with the US. The US has so far signed the TIFA with 42 countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in South Asia.

Apart from promoting trade, the TIFA is also expected to open up  avenues for promoting US investment in Nepal.

According to Sharma, the US government is also interested in providing support to develop hydropower and tourism in Nepal. “Provided there is political stability, we can bring a large amount of investment from the country through the TIFA .”

Source: The Kathmandu Post