Trade Policy and Export Diversification

South Asia Watch on Trade Economics & Environment (SAWTEE) and ActionAid, Nepal (AAN) jointly organised a Dissemination Seminar on "Trade Policy and Export Diversification" on 25th January 2007, in Kathmandu.

The seminar was organised to disseminate the findings of last two research studies - "Trade and Industrial policy environment in Nepal" and "Trade Negotiation Strategy for Nepal". The seminar is a part of the project "Addressing the Impact of Phasing out of the Textile and Clothing Quotas on Nepal", supported by the UNDP Regional Center, Colombo and jointly implemented by SAWTEE and ActionAid Nepal.

Delivering his remarks as the chief guest in the introductory session, Mr. Bharat Bahadur Thapa, Secretary, Minister of Industry, Commerce & Supplies, said that Nepal will need to revisit and reformulate its industrial, investment and trade policies in the near future. He also said that trade negotiation has been a challenge for Nepal in the present context as Nepal has to find a balance between the multilateral and bilateral agreements. Mr. Sri Ram Pande, Assistant Resident Representative, UNDP said that Nepal should focus on advocating for market access in Least Developed Countries during trade negotiations at the WTO. During the same session, Mr. Chandi Raj Dhakal, the Chair of the session, President, Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI), said that Nepal lacks both in formulating appropriate policies as well as implementing them. He also emphasised that Nepal needs to strengthen its negotiation capacity.

In the technical session, Mr Navin Dahal, Executive Director and Mr Shivaraj Bhatta, Economist of SAWTEE made presentations on the findings of the research studies. Mr. Prachanda Man Shrestha, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies chaired the session.  Mr Kiran Saakha, Export Promotion Committee, FNCCI and Mr. Ratnakar Adhikari, Programme Specialist, UNDP Regional Center were the discussants.

During the technical session the participant sad that in order to facilitate conducive investment climate in Nepal, policies must be formulated and frequently updated to reflect Nepal's economic goals, supply side constraints must be managed and Nepal must build its capacity to negotiate at bilateral and multilateral agreements. In addition, the participants attending the dissemination seminar also realised the importance of public-private co-ordination in formulating and in implementing industrial, investment and trade policies.

The programme was attended by more than 50 stakeholders including businessmen, policy makers, politicians, media persons and others.