April 6: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba inaugurated the Chobhar dry port amidst a programme on Tuesday, April 5. The dry port was constructed to facilitate the country's international trade.    

Inaugurating the Dry Port, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba expressed confidence that the construction of Nepal's first dry port on the outskirts of the capital is a milestone in developing the federal capital Kathmandu as an international trade hub.

He said that the dry port would play a special role in facilitating export-based trade and availability of a one-stop service including customs screening and quarantine to reduce the cost of foreign trade and also to help the administrative process.    
PM Deuba further claimed that the dry port would promote export by facilitating trade and enhancing transparency.    
The dry port is expected to further ease foreign trade through Kathmandu and make the trade of goods and services competitive and effective by reducing costs involved in export.    
Stating that administrative hassles are still prevalent especially in the transportation of goods in Nepal's foreign trade, PM Deuba said such a high-quality trade infrastructure would help lessen the hassles.    
PM Deuba said trade deficit could be reduced by increasing the export of Nepal-made goods in the international market.    
The PM assured that his government was committed to create a conducive environment for industrial development and to attract foreign investment. He added that various programmes were introduced for reforms at policy-level and procedural level to achieve the target.    
Furthermore, the PM spoke of the need to simplify and reduce the existing procedural hassles in foreign trade and said he was ready to collaborate with the private sector to promote trade.  (With inputs from RSS)