Talks on Vizag port ‘in final stages’

NEW DELHI, JAN 20 -

Finance, Industry and Commerce Minister Shankar Prasad Koirala has said Nepal can soon use Visakhapatnam port of India as negotiations have reached final stages.

Although India agreed to allow Nepal to use the port during then Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal’s India visit four years ago, Nepal has failed to use the port due to delay in paperwork and less priority accorded to the port . It was also delayed due to India putting forth a condition that Nepal has to accept the additional lock system for Nepal-bound cargo at Kolkata’s Haldiya port — the only port Nepal uses currently.

“The entire documents of the negotiation are ready. India has assured it will allow Nepal to use the Visakhapatnam port immediately,” said Koirala, who is in New Delhi to participate in the 5th SA-ARC Business Leaders Conclave.

A study has shown that Vishakhapatnam port , which is 500km away from Haldiya, can be more cost effective than the Kolkata port .

Nepal’s Consulate General Office in Kolkata had also submitted as separate study re port about the possibility of using West Bengal’s Ghashra and Paradip port to Commerce and Foreign Ministries, but Koirala said he was unaware about the matter. “The issue of Vishakhapatnam port should be solved through a letter of exchange and is one of the five issues to be settled through this process,” said Koirala. “The elected government will settle this issue soon.”

Minister Koirala said during his meeting with Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Ananda Sharma, he talked about Nepal’s growing trade deficit with India and additional duty being imposed by India on a few Nepali products. “As Nepal is a small trading partner for India and the southern neighbour is the biggest trading partner for Nepal, we asked them to not impose additional duty on Nepali products as it would cause no significant harm to Indian products,” Koirala said.

India has been imposing 6-12 percent counter-veiling duty on Nepali readymade garment and copper utensils.

During the recently-concluded Commerce Secretary-level Inter-Government Committee (IGC) meeting, India had expressed inability to remove the additional duty at least until the new budget presentation due to legal complication.

Koirala said India expressed concern over agriculture development fee imposed by Nepal on Indian agriculture products. “I told them Nepal imposed the duty to promote local products,” he said. “As India has been getting concession from the World Trade Organization for its massive food subsidy plan, it should not worry about the agriculture development fee,” he said.

India had raised the issue during the IGC meeting, but Nepal convinced the Southern neighbour the fee would not affect Indian agriculture products.

Meanwhile, Koirala lauded the initiative of the private sector in the SAARC system through the opening of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which has been bringing the governments and the private sector together to discuss investment and issues related to the business sector. Commerce ministers of all eight SAARC states were present in the meeting held in New Delhi.

“All have realised that the vision of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) is just about lip service,” said Koirala. “I told the gathering it’s high time we reviewed the SAFTA mechanism looking at the structure of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and European Union.”

The minister said bilateral issues were getting more prominence within SAARC, blocking multilateral efforts. Welcoming efforts made to reduce customs duties in the region, he said SAARC states have not been serious on reducing sensitive lists.

(Source: The Kathmandu Post)