A trade pact with Bhutan
The Himalayan Times | 2011-05-15
A trade pact with Bhutan
HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE
KATHMANDU: Nepal and Bhutan will sign a trade agreement during the second joint secretary level meeting scheduled for May 24-25.
Toya Narayan Gyawali, joint secretary at Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) and Sonam P Wangdi from Bhutan will lead their teams for the trade talks, informed Binod Acharya, under secretary at the ministry.
According to Acharya, representatives from the two countries will hold discussions to improve overall improvement in trade relations between the two countries.
“Till date we do not have any trade agreement with Bhutan. After the discussion regarding the trade improvement, trade agreement protocol will be prepared for the final procedure,” said Acharya.
He also added after the first meeting, trade agreement draft was already prepared. However, preparation of trade agreement protocol still remains which will be done during the second meeting. According to Acharya, the second meeting will be organised in Bhutan.
Nepal-Bhutan first joint secretary level meeting was organised in Nepal. The meeting will also discuss their respective product contributions in the agreement. The trade talks will include issues regarding the list of exportable products from the two countries. Issues regarding trade routes and business procedures will also be discussed during the meeting. According to him, the meeting will also explore possibilities to boost bilateral trade between the two countries.
The first joint secretary level trade talk between the two countries in March 2010 focused on Bilateral Trade Agreement, proposed by Bhutan about eight years ago. Bhutan is interested in bilateral agreement as there is no bilateral trade agreement between Nepal and Bhutan.
In 2004, Nepal and Bhutan signed an agreement to increase the number of flights between Paro and Kathmandu from twice a week to seven flights a week. Bhutan’s export to Nepal during 2008-09 was around Rs 300 billion.
