Kathmandu, Sept. 16
Stakeholders have said that Nepal has to put its efforts to
tap into the great trade, tourism and investment potential with the United Arab
Emirates (UAE), one of the major labour destinations for Nepali youth.
Speaking at the sixth Annual General Meeting of the
Nepal-UAE Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NUAECCI), they expressed worries
over huge trade deficit with the Gulf nation and suggested better strategies
from the government here.
The trade between the two countries is highly unbalanced
with goods imports of Rs. 47.9 billion and exports of only Rs. 459 million.
Nepali products are yet to be promoted in the markets of
UAE. Some of the products are exported in a small scale while many of them are
yet to be promoted there.
President of the NUAECCI, Pawan Kumar Agrawal said that
there is great potential for the exports of vegetables, fruits, drinking water,
garment, carpets, tea/coffee, felt items, pashmina shawls and other items from
Nepal.
He urged for a joint effort by the government and private sector
to promote the export of Nepali goods in the UAE. "A strong Nepali
community of about 320,000 Nepalis in the UAE is itself a good market for
Nepali products and services. We seek the support from the UAE Ambassador in
Kathmandu in this regard," Agrawal said.
He put extra emphasis on the export of organic fruit and
vegetables from Nepal to the UAE.
According to him, support in skill development centre in
Nepal to improve the skills of Nepali migrant workers going to the UAE could be
an area of mutual cooperation between the two countries. Agrawal maintained
that there is a need to intensify business exchanges between the two countries.
Ambassador of the UAE to Nepal, Saeed Hamdan Alnaqbi, said
that there is a need for the government of Nepal to work with the government of
UAE and private sector with business-people there for the promotion of Nepal's
goods and tourism there. According to him, Nepal could be an attractive
destination for the UAE tourists.
He also informed that skill training especially for migrant labour
is an agenda between the two countries and he wanted to work in this area.
Ram Chandra Sanghai, Vice-President of the Federation of
Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), suggested identifying the
economic areas of potential cooperation between the two countries and forging
cooperation between them. He also said that Nepal should identify the major
hurdles that are barring Nepal's export to the UAE.
Likewise, President of Nepal
Foreign Trade Association (NFTA), Binod Sethia, said that compared to its
potential, a very few Emiratis visit Nepal despite enormous attractive destinations
here. "Though the Emiratis are eligible to get visa on arrival to Nepal,
we are not seeing many of them. The NUAE chamber should play an active role in
coordinating with the UAE and Nepal governments to promote tourism and Forieng
Direct Investment from there," he said.
The 6th AGM has elected a 13-member executive
committee of the NUAECCI under the chairmanship of Pawan Kumar Agrawal. Its new
vice-presidents are Jivan Bhandari and Akhil Chapagain while Shiva Kumar
Agrawal is elected as General Secretary, Prem Pandey as Treasurer, and Umesh
Rayamajhi as secretary.
Likewise, Anuj Rimal, Ambika Sharma, Jyotsna Shrestha,
Chandra Tandon, Samir Thapa, Nishan Raj Bhandari, and Ratan Kedia as the
executive committee members.
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