Nepal premier dreams of economic growth with India

By IANS,

New Delhi : Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” Monday shared his dream of “growing together” with India and put forward a roadmap for greater bilateral co-operation in trade and infrastructure development.


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“The coming decade will be the decade for economic revolution,” Prachanda told a gathering of Indian industry captains here, and encouraged the private sector to invest “in bigger infrastructure and power projects”.

In a near hour-long address, Prachanda touched upon issues such as special economic zones (SEZs), hydro-power projects, agriculture, and smoother entry for private sector in the tiny Himalayan republic.

Prachanda promised “peace, stability and security” for investors and industry reforms for “an accelerated economic growth and judicious distribution of economic benefits” to the people, and sought India’s support.

“The geo-proximity and close co-operative relationship with India should help us realise the dream of being together and growing together,” he said.

Prachanda said Nepal’s manufacturing and untapped resources and diversified agricultural production base provide mutually beneficial areas for investment, and hoped for positive response from Indian investors.

Maintaining that Nepal wished to grow and prosper along with India, Prachanda said business was an engine of growth, and that would ensure peace and stability in his country through rapid progress in economic development.

In this connection, he invited Indian corporate houses to set up facilities in Nepal where he said special economic zones could come up to “accelerate the process of inclusive economic development”.

“The primary objective of the government is to give a boost to the economy, which has remained sluggish due to the transitional process,” he said.

The interaction had been organised jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham), India’s top industry lobbies.

The Nepal prime minister said there was no comparison between India and China so far as Kathmandu’s relationship with New Delhi and Beijing went, but identified China as a potential market for products from his country.

“Products from Nepal do not need to travel far to find markets, as Nepal holds an ideal location to reach the fastest growing economies of China and India,” said Prachanda, who termed relationships with New Delhi as “cordial and vital”.

Regarding floods caused by the Kosi river in Bihar and Nepal, Prachanda said: “At the moment, we need to find a remedy to the problem and reconstruct (the breached Kosi embankment)”.

According to an Assocham estimate, India’s bilateral trade with Nepal was poised to touch $3 billion by 2010, which is currently estimated at $1.4 billion.

India imports several goods like jute items, vanaspati, pulses, hide, herbs, cardamom, rice bran oil, ginger, oil cakes and noodles from Nepal, and exports rice, cement, electrical and mechanical equipment and milk products to it.

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