August 22: Tatopani and Rasuwagadhi customs, the major trade checkpoints in the north, will not be opened anytime soon. Both of these checkpoints have been closed since the last two weeks due to the extension of lockdown in Lhasa amid rise in coronavirus infection. Officials say that the border points with China will not be opened immediately.

According to the Nepali Consulate in Lhasa, China had announced a lockdown there until Sunday. However, the lockdown has been extended till Tuesday as the Covid patients are still seen and the tests have not been completed. China has not released any goods to Nepal for the last two weeks citing the reason of Covid-19. According to the Nepal Trans Himalayan Border Commerce Association, 400 containers carrying goods worth around Rs 5 billion have been currently stuck on the road across the border.

Bharat Karki, the owner of New Sugam Enterprises and general secretary of the association informed that around 350 to 400 containers are stopped at Kerung-Rasuwa and Khasa-Tatopani areas.

His company imports goods from China. The stopped container contains items for Teej and Dashain festivals. "China has not allowed containers carrying clothes, shoes, Chinese walnuts to be brought to Nepal," he told New Business Age.

Karki informed citing Nepal’s Consul General in Lhasa, Navraj Dhakal, that the closure announced by the Chinese side is unlikely to be lifted immediately. "Goods worth billions of rupees have been stopped. We are asking the Consul General to take the initiative to open the border. However, he is saying that it is not going to open immediately,” said Karki.

The association is preparing to meet Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu and request him to take initiatives to ease the border obstruction.

Prabhu Adhikari, the owner of PNP Enterprises, says that the business has become chaotic due to the stoppage of goods during the festive season. According to him, due to the sudden closure of the northern border, the businessmen are facing double expenses and debt.

"The situation has worsened as goods worth billions of rupees have been held up on the way," he said, "We are in trouble because the border has been closed on the eve of the festival." The government should take the initiative to resume imports, he added.

The Nepal National Federation of Entrepreneurs is of the view that traders are in trouble after goods were stopped at the Chinese border on the eve of Dashain. The federation has also requested the government to solve the problem at the border immediately through diplomatic initiatives. President of the Federation Kumar Karki said, “There has been a problem at Tatopani and Kerung checkpoints for some time. Imported materials are being stopped at the Chinese border. Exports have been stalled for a long time. The government should take the initiative to open it immediately.”

According to him, the goods intended for the festivals have been stopped at the Chinese border. If those goods do not arrive on time, the entire business is under risk of going bankrupt. If the border is not opened, there is a situation where many industrialists may flee from their businesses. Karki says that the government should start diplomatic initiatives as soon as possible to solve the problems seen at the border.