Money
Nepal poised to make big splash at Kunming fair
Nepal is poised to make a big splash at the China-South Asia Exposition and the China Kunming Import and Export Commodities Fair scheduled to kick off in Kunming, China on June 12.Sanjeev Giri
Nepal is poised to make a big splash at the China-South Asia Exposition and the China Kunming Import and Export Commodities Fair scheduled to kick off in Kunming, China on June 12.
The Nepal Embassy in Beijing said a mammoth Nepali delegation of 500 participants including government officials would be converging on the capital city of Yunnan Province in southwest China for the weeklong event.
Nepal will put up 200 stalls at the expo. Apart from the 100 stalls the organisers have reserved for Nepal, the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has booked another 100 stalls.
“The annual event has emerged as a platform for strengthening trade ties between neighbouring states and other participating countries,” Nirmal Raj Kafle, deputy head of the Nepali mission in Beijing, told the Post.
The theme for this year’s event is “Amity, Sincerity, Mutual Benefit, Inclusiveness and Win-Win Cooperation”. Maldives is the theme country for this year. Former prime minister Sushil Koirala had visited the second edition of the expo in 2014 when Nepal was the country of honour.
Nepal’s official delegation will be led by Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun. According to Kafle, the vice-president will head a 17-member team including staffers from Nepal’s diplomatic missions in China. Pun is scheduled to address the inaugural ceremony and participate in a discussion event on the sidelines of the fair.
In addition, high ranking government officials, scholars and journalists from Nepal are expected to participate in the expo and sideline discussions.
“This expo is not just about trade and economy. It brings top political leaders of several countries to a common destination,” Kafle told the Post, adding that the expo provided exposure to Nepali traders and an opportunity to identify markets in China.
Apart from displaying and selling products, Kafle said Nepali traders should focus on extending relations with their Chinese counterparts for reaping long-term benefits. Similarly, a 16-member FNCCI delegation led by its Senior Vice-President Bhawani Rana is participating in the event.
Manish Lal Pradhan, executive committee member of the FNCCI, told the Post that Nepali stalls would be displaying a wide range of handicrafts, Nepali art and sculptures, metal crafts, pashmina and ‘rudraksha’ beads, among others.
“We have focused on displaying items in which Nepal has a comparative advantage and market potential in China,” said Pradhan. Nepali merchants have high hopes from the expo as it has been a big help to them to market their products in China which has a huge potential, he added.
Apart from B2C (business-to-customer), merchants from Nepal are also looking forward to B2B (business-to-business).
“We have a limited number of products with comparative advantage, so it is difficult for us to look for B2Bs. However, we are trying our best with whatever resources we have,” said Pradhan. He added that there was a need for enhancing cooperation between government agencies and the private sector to get the best results from the expo.
Co-sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of China and the government of Yunnan Province, the China Kunming Import and Export Commodities Fair is an international event attracting visitors from numerous countries across the globe. According to the organizers, a total of 75 countries participated in the event in 2015, drawing around 120,000 buyers. The week long expo will conclude on June 17.