Nepal to try to attract more investment in second TPR

Kathmandu, Nov. 29:  The country aims at amplifying the message through the second Nepal Trade Policy Review Meeting (NTPRM) being held next week at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva that the country has a favourable investment climate and immense business potential.

The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS) is set to highlight the investment opportunities in the country, the reforms it made in the past six years and economic development policy.

“We want to assure the world that Nepal’s policies are favourable for the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in many sectors,” Secretary for Commerce Chandra Kumar Ghimire said in an interaction with the journalists at the Ministry on Thursday.

“Our tariff regime is liberal,” he added.

According to him, political stability, conflict resolution and smoothening energy supply have given an impression that Nepal is a vibrant investment destination.

The NTPRM is slated for December 3 and 5 where all WTO member countries will present their views on Nepal’s trade policy it adopted in the last six years, from 2012 to 2018.

The first NTPRM was held in 2012.

Nepal became the 147^th member of the WTO in 2004. According to the WTO rules, the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) should review their trade policy in every six years whereas the developed and developing nations are required to perform this task every two and four years respectively.

A committee led by Secretary Ghimire had prepared a review report and sent it to the WTO while,  at the same time, the Secretariat of the multilateral organisation also visited Nepal and prepared another review report.

The report has been studied by 164 WTO member nations and they raised 111 questions. “We have responded to most of the questions while some are being answered,” said Toya Narayan Gyawali, Joint-Secretary of the MoICS.

He said that the review reports on Nepal will be discussed for the two whole days.

According to the Ministry, Nepal has made a significant progress in terms of policy formulation and implementation in the areas of energy, investment, tourism, agriculture, bilateral trade treaties, intellectual property, FDI and trade in goods and services.

“Member nations will know that we have made some significant policy progress in creating investment environment which will contribute to more FDI and tourism inflow,” said Gyawali.

He said that the country would learn immensely from the review as other countries would point out its weaknesses and suggest better policy options.

This is also the time when the multilateral organisation monitors whether the policy of the member countries is as per the WTO standards.

The review report submitted to the WTO includes the economic environment of the country, institutional framework, trade policy instruments, objectives and trade agreements, aid for trade and sectoral policies such as agriculture, manufacturing and services – financial services, telecommunication, transport and tourism.

It also carries sections on measures directly affecting imports and exports, and measures affecting production and trade.

A delegation led by Ghimire will attend the NTPRM in Geneva which will include Gyawali, Nepali Ambassador to Geneva, Deputy Chief of Mission and a joint-secretary from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 30 November 2018.