Nepali gov't, WB to jointly work for trade facilitation

Kathmandu - The Nepali government has taken an initiative to develop a project that would facilitate outward trade by improving quality of laboratories, custom facilities and roads in the border areas with an assistance of the World Bank.

The project, which is yet to take a concrete shape in terms of investment and duration, will mainly focus on implementing the Nepal Trade Integration Strategy (NTIS) 2010 -- the government's blueprint to boost export.

"Preliminary negotiations are going on," an official at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, quoted by Saturday's Republica, a Kathmandu-based daily newspaper.

The NTIS has enlisted 17 commodities and services sectors in which Nepal is identified to possess comparative advantage. Officials said the project is being negotiated and will be designed on the basis of the NTIS.

"Both the ministry and the WB have already agreed in principle over developing a project that would facilitate in the development of NTIS products and services and laying down trade-related infrastructures to support their exports," the official said.

If things went as planned, ministry officials said they would finalize the details of the project such as cost and nature of finances, the ratio of loan and grant next week.

"We have laid special emphasis on the laboratory development and accreditation of quality certification because most of the exporters in Nepal have been complaining difficulties in quarantine and quality issues," said the official.