Nepal seeks to boost trade with UAE, stressing farm products

The country’s leader spoke of the need to increase exports to the UAE, focusing on agriculture and water

The Prime Minister of Nepal, Shri Pushpa Kamal Dahal, discussed the importance of building bilateral trade and cooperation between his country and the UAE yesterday in Dubai.

Dahal, who took office for the second time as Prime Minister in August 2016, spoke to Gulf News of his government’s emphasis on “creating an atmosphere that encourages exports [with the UAE].”

Dahal, who is leading a tenmember delegation on an official visit to the UAE, is scheduled to deliver a keynote address at the opening ceremony of the World Future Energy Summit.

There is currently little trade between the two countries, and almost all of it is in favour of the UAE, but Dahal suggested that agriculture and water might be the key to correcting the imbalance between the two nations.

“The 21st century will be the century of water,” the Prime Minister told Gulf News, adding, “Nepal must either export water, or begin to use it as a renewable source of energy.”

Aasif Ali Siddiqui, Chairman of the Nepali Business Council, echoed the Prime Minister’s remarks about agriculture.

“We have lots to export to the UAE, including high quality organic food, which is currently going to Japan. Why can’t it go to the UAE, too? All that is required is a mechanism that allows us to export these goods here,” he said.

He said that the UAE was a “big market” for the country’s small- and medium-sized enterprises.

The Nepalese business community is growing in the UAE, according to Siddiqui.

“When we started the business council last year, there were only 100 Nepalese companies here in the UAE. In the space of just a few months that has grown by over 30 in Dubai alone.”

As leader of the Communist Party of Nepal, Dahal has sought to rebuild the country following an earthquake in April 2015 that left 9,000 dead and hundreds of thousands more homeless.

When asked about the recent decision to allow Nepalese domestic helpers to return to the UAE to work, Siddiqui said that it was a good thing.

“The UAE is much safer than other places for Nepalese domestic workers. They are coming to the right place.”

Personal remittances made up 31.8 per cent of Nepal’s gross domestic product in 2015, according to data from the World Bank.

Nepali Business Council