Kathmandu, July 24
Foreign Secretary of Nepal, Sewa
Lamsal has said that China should give priority to providing preferential
trading facilities to Nepali products amidst the existing huge trade deficit
between the two countries.
"Nepal appreciates
China for providing duty-free quota-free access to more than eight thousand Nepali products. However, a huge trade deficit
exists. There is a need to consider the matter with priority for providing
wider preferential trading facilities to Nepali
products," she said while addressing the fifth China-South Asia
Cooperation Forum in Kunming, China, on Wednesday.
The trade gap between the two neighbours is astonishingly
high with Nepal having a negligible export. China is the largest source
country of Foreign Direct Investment in Nepal and the second
largest trading partner.
In the last Fiscal Year 2023/24, Nepal exported goods
worth Rs. 258.8 million to China but the import size was Rs. 298.77 billion.
According to Lamsal, a large number of Chinese tourists visit Nepal every
year. "We are jointly celebrating Visit Nepal
year 2025 in China on the happy occasion of the 70th anniversary of
the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Nepal and China,"
she said while inviting Chinese people to visit Nepal
She also said that since Nepal is set to graduate from
the Least Developed Country (LDC) status by
2026, Nepal needs enhanced and commensurate levels
of resources and technology in its development efforts during and after
graduation.
Lamsal expressed her confidence that Nepal would
receive more cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, infrastructure development and technology transfer, from the development partners,
including China.
She termed the forum an important platform for intergovernmental and high-level policy dialogue and
maintained that it has significance in garnering
collective synergy for the enhanced level of economic and trade cooperation as well as people-to-people
exchanges in South Asia region.
According to her, the Forum including the expo can play a key role in promoting
cooperation in the South Asia region which treasures huge development potential
in the region and beyond.
"The China-South Asia partnership is about
connectivity, prosperity and future outlook that is instrumental to narrow down
the gaps and deepen the mutual understanding and cooperation," said
Lamsal.
The Forum has not only
provided important opportunities for the producers and consumers to be closer
to each other for their mutual benefit but also created an opportunity to bring
both governments and private sectors from the region to one place to work for mutual
benefits, she maintained.
Foreign Secretary Lamsal also
expressed Nepal's desire to work with the Government
of China to further elevate cooperation in areas such as trade, tourism, investment,
education, culture, and people-to-people exchange.
Meanwhile, she expressed Nepal's
confidence in further strengthening the relations with China in multiple areas
of cooperation in future.
"The Government of Nepal attaches
great significance to the Memorandum of Understanding on strengthening the
development Cooperation in Building the Trans-Himalayan Multidimensional
Connectivity Network," she said.
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