Kathmandu,
Sept. 1:
Diplomats,
economists and businessmen are hopeful that the Kathmandu Declaration of the
Fourth BIMSTEC Summit 2018 would deliver benefits to Nepal’s energy, tourism,
infrastructure and agriculture sectors.
The
leaders of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical
and Economic Cooperation) countries on Friday agreed to expedite the process
of creating intra-regional connectivity,
including development of roads, aviation, transmission line and information
technology.
They
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection
while BIMSTEC Master Plan on Transport Connectivity is in the process of
development.
According
to the experts, the grid interconnection agreement will ensure the
international energy markets for Nepal which will attract more investments from
across the region.
The
summit of the seven countries in and
around the Bay of Bengal – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka
and Thailand – decided to facilitate tourism by ensuring safety and security of
the tourists and smooth transport connectivity, develop and promote the Buddhist
Tourism Circuit, Temple Tourist Circuit, eco-tourism and medical tourism.
“This common
effort to develop infrastructure to promote intra-regional connectivity will
certainly benefit Nepal as well as other member nations while the proactive
steps to collectively fight the challenges created by the climate change has
made the summit unique. As our country is vulnerable to climate change, it
holds great importance to us,” said Dr. Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, Nepal Coordinator
of the Eminent Persons’ Group on Nepal India Relations.
He appreciated
the summit for the fusion it created in terms of traditional and modern
technology and issues such as agricultural technology.
Economist Naveen
Adhikari said that the country could be immensely benefitted from the BIMSTEC
declaration since the priorities of the regional mechanism – energy,
agriculture and tourism – match Nepal’s national planning priority.
“Specially in
energy and tourism we can reap advantages as the summit agreed on connecting
the electricity grids of the member states and creating the Buddhist and Temple
circuit. Nepal can attract investment in hydroelectricity from India and
Bangladesh, and Myanmar and Thailand may invest in tourism sector,” he said.
Adhikari said
that the dynamic link created by the BIMSTEC between two major economies in
South Asia and East Asia – India and Thailand – would benefit other countries
in the region.
In addition to
it, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s positive attitude to develop
connectivity among the member countries and the interest and investment of the
multilateral donors such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank in
the mechanism has pushed the hopes up.
President of the
Confederation of Nepalese Industries Hari Bhakta Sharma said that the Kathmandu
Declaration has instilled hope for opening up of greater markets for Nepali
producers which would force the investors to enhance their production capacity.
“There is a huge
potential of tourism promotion in the BIMSTEC countries which are connected
with the Buddhism in either way. It will increase Nepal’s exposure thus may
result in the influx of large number of tourists from the region,” he said.
According to
Sharma, the member countries of the regional body should treat the electricity
as a commodity thus allowing its easier flow and exchange.
Immediate past president
of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Pashupati Murarka
also said that the fourth summit of the regional body has offered more market
options to Nepal’s electricity.
He said that the
increased transport and energy connectivity will have immediate positive impact
on Nepal’s tourism industry and foreign direct investment.
Challenges
As Prime
Minister KP Sharma Oli said in his closing remarks on Friday, translating the
promises into actions would be a key challenge ahead.
And, Nepal needs
to work hard to improve the domestic infrastructure and investment
environment.
According to Dr.
Thapa, market integration is a pre-requisite for the success of trade and
investment facilitation since its absence will impact the enhancement of
production.
“Though the
successful hosting of the summit has shown positive signs for Nepal and the
region, implementation of the agreements and commitments is challenging as the
region drastically lacks the basic development infrastructure,” said Dr. Thapa.
“There is a
tendency to express commitment to multiple things but shying away from its
implementation,” he added.
Economist
Adhikari also emphasises on strong political will in the part of the leadership
of the BIMSTEC nations to achieve the development targets set by the summit.
He said that as
the summit has opened up new economic and development avenues, the member
countries might be motivated to work together for their common benefits.
“However, the
success of cooperation also depends on how Nepal as well as other four
countries from South Asia take the issues forward along with the SAARC (South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation),” he maintained.
Similarly,
Murarka and Sharma said that although the BIMSTEC summit opened ways for FDI,
Nepal needed to work a lot to improve the investment climate.
“Our production
is negligible; therefore, we need to increase our capacity. Government should
come forward to support the private sector in this regard,” he said.
According to
him, the intra-regional infrastructure projects demand a large investment which
could pose the greatest challenge to its implementation aspect.
The first part of this article is published in The Rising Nepal daily on 2 September 2018.
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