Private Sector Support a Must for Full Budget for FY 2013/14

Finance Minister Shankar Prasad Koirala has said that the private sector would have to extend full cooperation to the government to bring a full-fledged budget for fiscal year 2013/14. He, however, said that the government was making preparations for such a budget. Minister Koirala said so while addressing a programme organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and the Pokhara Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 

“Learning its lessons from the previous years, the government has concluded that a full-fledged budget for the next fiscal year is a must. The government expects full cooperation from the private sector for such a budget,” said Minister Koirala. 

“For economic development, we must be able to increase the investment, particularly in the development of infrastructure,” remarked Koirala. He added that as the business community is the one suffering greatly from the current energy crisis, the government would try to reduce load-shedding as well. Koirala, who also holds the industry and supplies portfolio, also stressed on the need for industrial development in the country.

India’s leadership necessary for regional economic integration

If former Foreign Minister Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani is to be believed, there is unwillingness among the South Asian Countries to form a strategic vision of economic cooperation. Speaking in a one-day conference on Indo-Nepal trade and investment at Observer Research Foundation (ORF) on 22 April, 2013, Dr Lohani said that the economic cooperation should allow the gravitational force of the large and dynamic Indian economy to act as a lever to pull all other member states in the path of collective prosperity. 

He further said that India should take the lead in the economic integration of the region and carry the smaller states along with it towards the path of economic prosperity. Viewed from a gravity model perspective developed by economists and geographers, India is the most important country in the region, Dr Lohani said. He further explained that the size of the country, the dynamism of its economy and the distance factor involved imply that smaller South Asian countries will find the gravitational pull of the Indian economy a vital element in their quest for prosperity. 

The conference was organised as part of the joint study ORF has undertaken along with the South Asian Institute of Management (SAIM), Nepal, on Indo-Nepal trade and investment.

Nepal, China Agree to Promote Nepali Export

Trade talks held between Nepali and Chinese officials on April 25 in Kathmandu ended with an informal agreement to promote the export of Nepali goods to which China has provided zero tariff entry. At the joint-secretary level talks, the Nepali side drew the attention of their Chinese counterparts to the problems faced by Nepali entrepreneurs at the Nepal-China border and the risks of lacking banking facilities at the Tatopani entry point. Jivraj Koirala, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, led the Nepali team while the 11-member Chinese delegation was led by Bianba, Director General of the Department of Commerce of China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. Nepal requested the Chinese officials to allow the transportation of goods into the Chinese border through trucks, instead of current arrangement of carrying loads to Khasa of Tibet by porters after crossing the Tatopani customs. 

China has provided zero-tariff entry to 7,787 Nepali goods but Nepal has been able to export only 366 products which mainly include handicraft items, pashmina, vegetable ghee and noodles. Also, the trade deficit with China has not come down. According to Koirala, Nepal requested the Chinese team to support the implementation of awareness campaigns on the exportable goods which enjoy zero-tariff entry into the northern neighbour. 

The Chinese team also invited Nepali businessmen and government officials to the forthcoming Nepal- China economic and trade fair to be held in the second largest city of Tibet, Shigatse.