Nepal-China sign on two agreements
Coinciding with the visit of Chinese state councilor, Tang Jiaxuan, Nepali and Chinese officials have signed on two separate agreements in Kathmandu on Thursday.
According to the first agreement, China has agreed to provide duty free access to goods manufactured in Nepal.
Nepal has produced a list of 1,550 items for export to the Chinese market at zero percent custom tariff. The technical teams from the two countries will finalise the list in near future.
Chinese Assistant Minister for Commerce, Chen Jian and the Commerce Secretary of Nepal Bharat Bahadur Thapa signed the agreement to this effect in the presence of the visiting Chinese State Councilor, Tang Jiaxuan, Vice Chairmen Dr Tulsi Giri and Kirtinidhi Bista and Minister for Foreign Affairs Ramesh Nath Pandey.
Talking to journalists after signing the accord, commerce secretary Thapa said, Nepal has exportable items of three different categories — those to be exported to Tibet, to mainland China and to Hong Kong.
“This agreement will certainly bridge that gap, and boost the trade volume between the two countries,” Thapa added.
Nepal currently exports agricultural and dairy products to China.
As per the second agreement, China has agreed to provide assistance worth 20 million Yuan (Rs 180 million) to invest in "mutually agreed" projects in Nepal.
The Chinese Assistant Minister for Commerce and the acting Foreign Secretary, Hira Bahadur Thapa, signed the agreement to this effect.
Both the agreements were signed after the meeting between visiting Chinese officials with vice chairman in the council of ministers, Kiritnidhi Bista.
Earlier, talking to reporters in Lumbini—the birth place of Lord Buddha—this afternoon, Chinese leader Tang said China wanted to see peace and development in Nepal. He said he wanted Lumbini to develop as the world center of peace.
Tang arrived in Kathmandu on Thursday on a three-day visit to Nepal. His Majesty King Gyanendra is scheduled to grant audience to Tang on Friday.
Tang is also holding meetings with Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala and CPN-UML leaders Bharat Mohan Adhikari and Amrit Kumar Bohara.
Tang is the highest-ranking foreign government official to visit Nepal after the February 1 royal takeover of last year. nepalnews.com pb Mar 17 06
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