Govt-FNCCI PPP Bid to Devise Effective Export Strategy for Country

In a public-private partnership approach, the Ministry of Commerce and Supply (MoCS) and Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) organized a seminar on Nepal Trade Integration Strategy (NIST) and Export Potential Assessment (EPS) here today.

The seminar was supported by DFID, the government of Finland, International Trade Center (ITC) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The seminar prepared a trade strategy that will help identify the goods that can be promoted as export items. The strategy will help integrate Nepal in World Trade Organization (WTO) system and provide benefits of globalization.

The seminar comprehensively discussed Nepal Trade Strategy Report prepared in 2004 and incorporated the latest developments in the new strategy. The topics of the discussion were identification of export goods, problems in export, solutions to problems and rules and regulations for export promotion. The strategy will help the government make policies for international trade and export promotion.

Speaking on the occasion, FNCCI president Kush Kumar Joshi stressed on export promotion. "Without shifting gears from import-based to export-oriented, our country's economy cannot be sustainable,"

he said. The need is to should identify goods with export potential, solve current problems and promote Nepali goods in the international market, he said.

Economic experts Binod Karmacharya, Ramesh Chitrakar, Murari Gautam, Sajjanbir Singh Thapa as well as Thierry Noyelle and Thierry Paulmier presented their papers in the seminar. MoCS secretary Purushottam Ojha, joint secretary Dr Badri Pokhrel, representatives of UNDP and FNCCI's Rajendra Bahadur Shrestha also expressed their views on the issue.