“WCP Nepal-AIB South Asia Conference” kicks off

KATHMANDU, JANUARY 7: A two-day ‘ WCP Nepal-AIB South Asia Conference, 2024’ commenced here today. The event jointly organised by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Chairs Programme Nepal and Kathmandu University is themed ‘Global Trade and South Asia: Competitiveness, Value Chains and ESG’. Addressing the event, KU’s Registrar Professor Achyut Wagle advised Nepal to adopt a specific commerce policy, especially considering its transition to a middle-income category. As he suggested, Nepal should promote good production along with forward and backward linkages to compete in the global market.

Similarly, underlining the need to formulate advanced foreign trade policies, Professor S Raghunath, the AIB-SAC Executive Board Chair, hoped for the conference’s productive role in this regard. He highlighted global inter-dependency for an easy supply chain, seeking equal participation and contribution in the very chain.

Likewise, the Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Narayan Prasad Sharma Duwadee, pledged to consider and implement research-based suggestions to bridge policy-level gaps and maintain a balanced foreign trade. He stressed the need for diverse expertise in crafting effective policies, particularly as Nepal strategically manages the challenges associated with its graduation to a developing country.

As Nepal strives to counter the potential loss of facilities following its graduation to a developing nation, Secretary Duwadee advocated for building a competitive market through domestic production to advance towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In his virtual address to the event, Ambassador of Nepal, Permanent Mission to the UN, Ram Prasad Subedi described foreign trade as an engine of development and prosperity.

Ambassador Subedi pressed for the diversification of products and markets to address Nepal’s high trade deficit. Ambassador Subedi said various levels of discussions are being held at the United Nations for the continuation of the duty-free and quota-free facilities Nepal and Bangladesh have been presently getting in the trade sector, even after their graduation to the developing country status.

World Trade Organisation (WTO) Deputy Director General, Xiangchen Zhang, said works on capacity building are underway with different sectors and levels for facilitating global trade. Referring to the changes taking place in the world trade scenario in recent days, he expressed commitment to take initiatives for the continuation of the trade facilities in the trade with the least developed countries.

Kathmandu University Vice Chancellor Dr Bhola Thapa maintained that the trade dimensions are changing at the regional and the world market as well and this is affecting more countries like Nepal which have small economies and are dependent on imports. Efforts from all sides are needed to address this problem, he added.

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Kolkata Campus chief professor K Rangarajan said that South Asia has not been able to take appropriate benefit in the trade sector despite having a high demographic dividend. Noting that South Asia has been facing various challenges in regional and world trade, he said the countries of the region should take seriously the possibilities of taking the production from this region to the world market through the maximum use of innovative technologies.

More than 60 experts, researchers and academicians from seven various countries are attending the conference. Research papers on multiple topics will be presented and discussed in the two-day conference. —