Nepali Traders Pin Hope on New Ambassador to US

Business community has appealed the newly appointed Nepali Ambassador to the US Dr Shankar Sharma to strengthen country´s economic diplomacy to promote exports in the largest consumer market of the world and also attract more foreign investment and technology from the world´s largest economy.

The private sector that organized a series of programs to felicitate Dr Sharma mainly expressed wariness over dropping US investment in Nepal. They also raised concern over sharp drop in exports to the US over the last few years.

“Although we still enjoy trade surplus with US, the extent of surplus has dropped to Rs 880 million now from Rs 5 billion of the past. And this drop can be directly correlated with the decline in garments exports,” said Prashant Pokharel, president of Garment Association Nepal (GAN).

Garment is the prime Nepali exports to the US. However, as its volume of exports nose dive to mere 8 percent of what the country exported in 2002/03, country´s trade linkages with the US has sharply weakened over the last five years.

“This situation must be reversed,” said Pokharel, and expressed hope that the newly appointed envoy in support of the US Trade Representative Office and senators loving Nepal will be able to turn things around in Nepal´s favor.

GAN mainly demanded Dr Sharma to push for the duty-free facility for Nepal´s readymade garment in the US. Experts even suggested him to articulate facts like how the adverse impact in domestic garment industry has hit social stability, human development and employment situation in the country to seek the facility.

In the same note, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) requested Dr Sharma to make endeavor in bringing more US technology in the country. They noted that Nepal, given its potential, can be effectively promoted as highly profitable investment avenue in the sectors like hydropower, information technology, education, tourism and health.

Responding to the business community, Dr Sharma expressed his commitment to pick up the economic and trade related issues with high priority during his tenure for fostering Nepal-US relationships and building more meaningful bilateral engagements.