Six NTIS products post negative export growth

KATHMANDU:

Half of the Nepal Trade Integration Strategy (NTIS) products posted negative export growth during fiscal 2009-10 to 2013-14 and the share of each commodity in total exports stood at less than one per cent. NTIS which came into implementation in fiscal 2009-10 had incorporated 12 commodities and seven services, which reportedly have comparative and competitive advantages.

Nepal has not made substantive progress in the services listed in NTIS except labour services and Information Technology (IT), according to Prachanda Man Shrestha, a trade expert. “Nepal has recently created a conducive environment for the development of hydropower sector as well.” Besides labour, IT and hydropower, NTIS has included tourism, health, education and engineering services as niche products of the country. The government is going to review the NTIS list within this fiscal (2014-15) and an expert team led by Shrestha might remove some products from the list and add some new products. Some of the products in the NTIS list that posted negative growth in the last five fiscals are handmade paper and paper board, instant noodles, silver jewellery, lentils, woollen products and honey.

Export of honey slumped by 70.68 per cent, followed by woollen products (36.44), lentils (30.7), silver jewellery (16.57), noodles (10.95) and handmade paper (3.79) in the review period, according to a report prepared by the review team.

The government is providing facilities to develop the products through the associations of the respective products to boost the export of priority products. Among the 12 commodities, cardamom emerged as the best performer, with export growth of 29.16 per cent and its share in total export stood at about five per cent in the last five fiscal years, followed by ginger. Export of ginger increased by 14.78 per cent and its contribution to total export was 1.85 per cent during the review period.

Likewise, export of medicinal plants and essential oils grew by 9.56 per cent and its share in total export stood at 1.65 per cent. Tea and pashmina also recorded export growth of 8.95 per cent and 3.4 per cent, respectively. Share of tea and pashmina in total export was 2.64 per cent and 2.88 per cent, respectively, in the review period. Among the NTIS products, fabricated steel and metal construction products contributed 17.15 per cent in total export during the review period and their export growth stood at 2.35 per cent, as per the report.

Source: THT