They expressed readiness to hold trade talks during an informal meeting with Arvind Mehta, joint secretary at the Commerce Ministry of India, who was in Nepal earlier this week to attend a program organized to discuss Nepal-India economic issues.
“Mehta also said India is ready for the talks which are supposed to thrash out pending trade issues,” a high-level source at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) told Republica on Friday. [break]
Even though both the countries have lot of issues on bi-lateral trade and transit, Inter-governmental Committee (IGC) - a secretary level meeting and Inter-governmental Sub-committee (IGSC) - a joint-secretary level meeting have not been held more than two and half years and one and half years, respectively.
Letter of Exchanges (LoEs) on new railway agreements, including operationalizing Rohanpur-Sighabad rail route between Nepal and Bangladesh via India, expanding rail service to additional Nepali border points through different ports of India, bringing Phulabari-Banglabanda route into full-fledged operation, and operationalizing Vishakhapatnam port for Nepal´s third country trade are among the major issues that need to be resolved.
Nepali officials also raised the issue of six percent Countervailing Duty (CVD) being imposed on Nepali garment products by India, restriction on export of goods to third countries from Nepal, and mandatory provision for Nepali auto importers to transport four-wheelers imported from third countries by containers or rail wagons before Mehta.
“We have requested Mehta to take initiative for removing CVD, allowing exports of third country goods via India and transporting imported four-wheelers on-their own-power (by driving) from the Kolkata port to Nepal,” said the source.
Agendas exchanged for Nepal-China trade talks
Meanwhile, officials of Nepal and China have exchanged the agenda for 4th Nepal-China-Tibet Trade Facilitation Committee (NTTFC) meeting slated to be held on August 11-12 in Kathmandu.
The third meeting of NTTFC was held in Lhasa of Tibet on July 4 and 5 last year.
“We have exchanged the agenda which includes measures to support bi-lateral trade and to resolve trade-related problems between the two neighbors,” the source said.
A seven-member Chinese delegation led by Li Jie, deputy director general at the Office of the Government of Tibet Autonomous Region of China is coming to Nepal for the joint-secretary level talks.
Source said the discussions will focus on addressing around a half dozen pending issues including quarantines and problems in cross border movement of goods as well as vehicles.
In the upcoming meeting, Nepali officials are requesting the Chinese official for support of the northern neighbor in development of crucial trade infrastructures.
“We will seek Chinese support to build Inland Clearance Depot (ICD) in Rasuwagadi and improving Kathmandu-Tatopani road,” said the source.
Harmonization of time between customs offices of two countries, opening up branch offices of Chinese banks in Nepal, and simplification of quarantine process for Nepali goods are also among the topics proposed for the discussions.
Amid soaring trade deficit with China, Nepali officials will also discuss measures to facilitate exports of Nepali goods to the northern neighbor.
According to Trade and Export Promotion Center (TEPC), Nepal´s exports to China increased by 137 percent while imports increased by around 29 percent during the first eleven months of the fiscal year 2012/13 compared to the amount recorded during the same period of the previous fiscal year. Nepal´s trade deficit with the Asia´s largest economy reached more than Rs 61 billion during the review period.
Nepal had suffered trade deficit of around Rs 46 billion with the second largest trade partner in the same period last year.
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