Public, private sector must work to make prices competitive: Pun

Kathmandu, July 29

Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun said on Monday that the government and private sector must work together to reduce the cost of goods transportation to make prices of goods competitive in the international markets.

"Better policies, modern technology and infrastructure will facilitate trade while quality goods will create competitive advantages. These demand effective public-private collaboration," he said while addressing the Silver Jubilee celebration programme of the Nepal Freight Forwarders Association (NEFFA).

He pointed towards the need of establishing the facility to measure the quality of goods in the country at the earliest.

According to him, Nepal will soon be able to conduct import-export business through railway and inland waterways. In addition to it, two international airports in Bhairahawa and Pokhara will also open new gateway for trade.

VP Pun expressed his concerns to the growing trade imbalance and said that the ever-growing trade deficit had negative impacts on the economic growth and national prosperity.

"Export trade of Nepal is not satisfactory. It imported goods worth Rs. 1299 billion in the last Fiscal Year 2018/19 and exported goods of just 87.8 billion," he said.

He stated that there was no alternative to increasing export and suggested to utilise the natural and human resources available in the country as the idle resources will not contribute to development.

Kedar Bahadur Adhikari, Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, said that the government had initiated works to enhance the access to the sea.

"The train service will soon be connected with Biratnagar. We have also asked India that Nepal wants to operate its own railways in India. Support is also sought from India in developing inland waterways," he said. 

Nepal has asked India to allow the use of Dhamra and Mundra ports as well, he informed.

According to Adhikari, the cargo tracking system has shortened the duration by 3-4 days and reduced detention and demurrage charges.

Manjeev Singh Puri, Ambassador of India to Nepal, informed that the letter of exchange on bulk cargo operation was ready, and both the countries were in the final stage of materialising it.

He said that India was adopting automation in customs and transit facilities which would ultimately support in Nepal's international trade as well.

Prakash Singh Karki, President of the NEFFA, said that the Multimodal Act and bylaws should be amended and act on warehouse and cargo was needed for the timely development of the freight business.

"The international cargo movement is different from the domestic transportation system and has greater responsibility and liability as it directly impacts domestic as well as international trade. This should be understood by the policy makers," he said.

He demanded the removal of the Value Added Tax (VAT) and Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) on transportation.

He suggested expediting the development of inland waterways infrastructure.

"Laws on ship registration and inland waterways operation should be formulated at the earliest and invite private sector businesses to run the facilities," said Karki. He also urged to develop cargo-friendly system at the Bhairahawa and Pokhara international airports.

Bhawani Rana, President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) urged Nepal and India to lessen the hassles in trade and cargo movement.

"It was nice to hear Indian commitment to improve the logistic sectors including infrastructure to ease international trade," she said. "Transit time should be shorten, tariff charge from the logistics companies need to be brought down."

S. Ramkrishna Rao, Chairman of Federation of Freight Forwarders Association in India, said that the cooperation and collaboration among Nepal, India and Bangladesh in terms of freight handling and forwarding could create sin-win situation for all.

Satish Kumar More, President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) said that the bulk cargo should allowed to different entry points to Nepal.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 30 July 2019.