Nepal, Sri Lanka need to move forward on trade and investment
Sri Lanka and Nepal are celebrating 60 years of diplomatic relations with close cultural and religious ties but trade and investment between the two countries are almost insignificant despite several bilateral trade agreements between the two countries.
This was stated by Prof. Bishwambher Pyakuryal, Nepal Ambassador to Sri Lanka speaking at the presentation of ‘Bilateral Trade between Sri Lanka and Nepal held at the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) last week.
He pointed out that there is a wide range of items that could be imported from Nepal and also major investment potential for Sri Lankan investors in areas like hydropower, road and transport infrastructure, tourism, agriculture, eealth, education and ICT.
He said that at the Nepal Investment Summit held on March 3, 2017 Sri Lankan investors have pledged to invest a total of US$500 million in Nepal largely on hydropower, solar and wind power and also pointed out that Sri Lanka during the SAARC Council of Ministers meeting held last year agreed to reconstruct two earthquake-damaged heritage temples.
Stressing on the scope for improving the current state of Sri Lanka- Nepal bilateral relations, Prof. Pykuryal said that in the area of tourism there is Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha which is a holy place for Sri Lankan Buddhists. In 2016 he said about 44,000 Sri Lankans visited Nepal.
He said that there is the need to prepare a programme of action to develop and promote joint tourism packages and also a modality for collaborative activities through joint venture initiatives for investment in tourism infrastructure.
Possibilities also need to be explored, he said from both the supply side and demand side perspectives such as transfer of technology, knowledge and skills in selected sectors from Sri Lanka and Nepal where there exists complementarity which can be shared. Transfer of skilled and semi- skilled professionals in various categories can be identified and used by both countries, he indicated.
On policy reforms for encouraging Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), he said that Nepal has introduced a series of policy and institutional reforms which are expected to play a catalyst role in attracting FDI to Nepal. Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act (FITTA), is awaiting Cabinet approval where it ensures equal treatment in FDI, has accommodated provisions for easy procedure and guarantees repatriation, he said.
He said that collaboration in tea research, heritage management, archeology and value-addition in semi-precious stones should be expedited and Sri Lanka can impart knowledge for inland fisheries to landlocked Nepal where fish consumption is skyrocketing, he noted. A Free Trade Agreement should be designed in line with a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which covers broad areas of economic cooperation extending beyond tariff and non-tariff measures by covering investment and trade in services, he asserted.