Nepal seeks immediate execution of agreements reached at IGC

KATHMANDU, JAN 19 -

Nepal has requested India to immediately implement the agreements reached in the recently-concluded commerce secretary-level Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) meeting in Kathmandu.

Finance, Industry and Commerce Minister Shankar Prasad Koirala asked Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma to implement the agreements on trade facilitation during their meeting in New Dehli on Saturday.

A Nepal i delegation led by Koirala is currently New Delhi and has been holding talks with Indian officials.

Other members of the delegation are Commerce Secretary Madhav Regmi, joint Secretary Toya Narayan Gyawali and Bishnu Lamsal, finance department chief at the Nepal i Embassy in New Delhi.

During his meeting with the Indian minister, Koirala asked the Indian side to open the Visakhapatnam Port for Nepal as soon as possible, according to a government statement.

Nepal is currently using only the Kolkotta port and has long been seeking alternative ports for export/import purposes.

During the IGC meeting held in December, India had agreed to a number of demands forwarded by Nepal on trade facilitation, including allowing Nepal to use Jogbani-Biratnagar and Nautanawa-Bhairahawa customs points in addition to Raxual-Birgjunj while importing bulk cargo from other countries. Earlier, only the Raxual-Birgunj point was used for such imports.

The two sides had also agreed to remove hurdles on quarantine certificates for the export of agriculture, livestock and other products. The two countries are expected to sign a separate mutual recognition agreement on this matter.

Barrier at quarantine has been one of the biggest non-tariff barriers to Nepal ’s export of agriculture products to India.

The two sides had also agreed to develop infrastructure at new customs points

to facilitate bilateral trade and ease the current

provision of transshipment of Nepal -bound cargo from countries other than India through Kolkata. At the meeting with the Indian minister, the Nepal i side also informed India that a government team from Nepal would soon visit India to hold talks on the implementation of the agreements reached during the IGC meeting.

Koirala also sought Indian investment in Nepal ’s energy and infrastructure sectors to reduce Nepal ’s ballooning trade deficit with the southern neighbour.

Indian Minister Sharma assured the Nepal i side the southern neighbour is positive on providing easy market access to Nepal i goods.  

He suggested that Nepal increase investment in energy and tourism sector in order to reduce trade deficits. He also said the southern neighbour is positive on solving quarantine-related and other problems in border points through mutual cooperation.

(Source: The Kathmandu Post)