NCCCI for balance in Sino-Nepal trade

NCCCI for balance in Sino-Nepal trade

Officials of the Nepal China Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCCI) after their recent visit to China have proposed removing the imbalances in bilateral trade between Nepal and China.

Currently, Nepal suffers a major deficit as far as bilateral trade is concerned. As per figures provided by NCCCI, the deficit in export is Rs 144.4 million, and in import the deficit amounts to Rs 27.3 million while the trade deficit stands at more than Rs 22.48 billion.

"For balance in trade, there has to be zero tariff on Nepalese goods, and we have been lobbying for this not only with the Nepal government but the Chinese government as well. Yet, nothing has been done so far," said NCCCI chairman Rajesh Kaji Shrestha.

According to Shrestha, there are nine major areas that can extensively support Chinese investment, with banking, tourism, mineral and cement, information and technology, education, hydropower, agriculture, Ayurveda, and the medicine industry being the key areas of Chinese investment.

Nepal is wedged between China and India, which are the first and second most populated countries in the world and have attained economic growth at an accelerated rate as well as maintaining strong trade ties with each other, "If we manage to be the transit route to these two countries, the rate of economic and trade growth for Nepal can be strong," added Shrestha. The idea of being the transit route between China and India has been in the pipeline for the last eight years but no progress has been made on this front.

Data provided by NCCCI also show that the year 2011 can be used to target many Chinese tourists. The lead in tourist arrival has been maximum from India, followed by Americans and Europeans while Chinese hold a tight spot, at third place, Shrestha assured that if encouraged properly Chinese tourists would flock to Nepal in 2011.

SUGAR @Rs80

SUGAR @Rs80

The price of Sugar in Nawalparsi district has suddenly gone up within a week. The price of sugar has reached around Rs 80 per kg though it was Rs 60 only two days ago in district headquarters Parasi including other bazaar areas of the district. According to chairman of the Nawalparasi consumers' forum Tika Ram Gaire, the price increased after the sugar mills in the district began to supply sugar to Salt Trading Corporation directly and stopped supplying to local consumers. He said businessmen created artificial shortage.

Economy must be first agenda now: Pandey

Finance Minister Surendra Pandey

LALITPUR: Finance Minister Surendra Pandey today said economic development should be made the common agenda of the country now.

Inaugurating the 30th AGM of Lalitpur Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), minister Pandey said the political parties should end the culture of strikes and make economic development their common agenda. He said the government will consult entrepreneurs to develop a policy to end the culture of bandhs for once and all and give momentum to economic development. Referring to the Chinese agreement to raise investment in agriculture, hydropower, tourism and infrastructure sectors during the prime minister’s China visit, he said the government will work to build an atmosphere conducive for investment.
At the programme, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry chairman Kush Kumar Joshi called on all entrepreneurs to y implement the ‘no work, no pay’ policy of FNCCI.
LCCI chairman Naresh Kumar Shrestha said economic development has not been given real priority despite commitments by successive governments.
On the occasion, Finance Minister Pandey gave away export awards to several entrepreneurs. The AGM will elect a 23-member new working committee of LCCI tomorrow.

WELCOME TO INVEST

WELCOME TO INVEST

The Nepali financial sector is formally open for foreign banks from today. The government has set a dateline of January 1, 2010 to open the financial sector to foreigners when joining World Trade Organization (WTO). Nepal became a member of WTO on April 23, 2004.
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has set a minimum capital of US$ 30 million (equal to Rs 2.23 billion) for foreign banks to open their first branch in Nepal. NRB has further provisioned $5 million capital for each additional branch. Moreover, foreign banks are also legally bound to produce a no-objection letter issued by the regulatory authority of their home country if they want to open a branch here.
As per NRB regulations, foreign banks can only do wholesale banking in Nepal. They cannot collect deposit below Rs 100 million and cannot invest below Rs 300 million. According to NRB, foreign banks wishing to expand their service in Nepal must be at least ‘B’ rated as per the evaluation of international rating agencies such as Standard & Poor, Moody’s and Fitch.
Foreign banks are also obligated to follow the rules and regulations of NRB. They can repatriate their profits to their home country after paying taxes, fees and other liabilities as per the laws of Nepal. But they have to obtain the approval of the central bank before taking away the income.
The NRB policy also states that branches of foreign banks which are scrapped or liquidated could get their licenses scrapped in Nepal too.
Like the banking sector, Nepal has two major provisions — reduction in import duty of vehicles and protection of intellectual rights (IPR) — in three years. A per the plan, Nepal should follow international rates in import duty on vehicles in January 2012 and ensure IPR a year later.

Ntb

NTB itself on the shoulder

The year 2009 ended on positive notes both in terms of total visitor arrivals for the month of December and also for the whole year. Figures released by Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), reveal that visitor arrivals in the month of December 2009, compared to the same month last year, increased by 4.4 per cent to 31,396. Also, the total number of visitor arrivals in aggregate (from January to December), compared to the same time period in 2008, increased by 1.1 per cent to 378,712. A total of 374,661 visitors arrived in Nepal by air in 2008.

In December 2009, there was a robust growth of 51.4 per cent in visitor arrivals from China. Arrivals from Asia (other than South Asia) recorded positive growth. Visitor arrivals from South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand registered a positive growth of 25.1 per cent, 7.8 per cent, 22 per cent and 26.5 per cent, respectively. However, Japan suffered a soft decline by 1 per cent . In aggregate, the Asian segment (other than South Asia) registered a positive growth of 19.4 per cent in the month of December and 10.1 per cent in the year 2009.

In the SAARC region, arrivals from Pakistan grew by 8.2 per cent but arrivals from India and Sri Lanka declined by 5 per cent and 31.5 per cent, respectively, in December 2009. In aggregate, the South Asian segment registered a negative growth of 4.3 per cent in the month of December and 2.5 per cent in the year 2009.

An overall positive growth of 10.1 per cent was observed from the European markets for the month of December 2009 and 4.5 per cent in the year 2009. Arrivals from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria went up by 2.2 per cent, 4.3 per cent, 1.9 per cent, 30.6 per cent, 14.2 per cent and 37.1 per cent, respectively. Furthermore, arrivals from Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland registered a marginal growth. However, Spain, Denmark and Norway posted a nominal negative growth.

Tourist arrivals from Australia, Canada and the USA also registered remarkable growth of 13.8 per cent, 5 per cent and 10.9 per cent respectively. However the ‘Others’ category witnessed a negative growth of 18.4 per cent in the month of December and 21.1 per cent in 2009.

More than 75,058 trekkers visited Annapurna region in 2009 (this is derived from the number of permits issued by Annapurna Conservation Area Project offices in Kathmandu and Pokhara). Similarly, 1769 trekkers visited Manaslu region in 2009.

According to the UNWTO Tourism Barometer published in October 2009, till August international tourism demand declined by 7 per cent compared to the same period of last year. If this general trend continued through the remainder of the year, full year results were expected to show a decline in arrivals from 4 per cent to 6 per cent. However, Nepal has enjoyed sustained positive growth in international tourist arrivals since June 2009, although the year started with negative growth of 15.8 per cent in January 2009.