Fncci delegation meets Chinese Primier Zhu Rongji

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KATHMANDU, May 15 – A delegation of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) led by its president Pradeep Kumar Shrestha met with visiting Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji amid a function today and exchanged views on promoting mutual trade relations, said an FNCCI press release issued here today.

Addressing the function, the release quoted Chinese Premier as expressing his happiness to meet business leaders from the private sector and stressed that the role of private sector would be vital in transforming the century old cordial relation between the two countries into mutual economic development.

Referring to the various agreements signed between the two countries on Monday, he said that private sector will be benefited after the implementation of the met agreement and expressed his delight over getting opportunity to extending economic and technical cooperation in the overall development activities of Nepal, including infrastructure development, the release said.

In order to squeeze Nepal’s trade deficit with China, Premier Rongji suggested that the Nepalese businessmen should produce and export goods that match with preferences and demands of the Chinese people. He also expressed the hope that the recently signed agreement regarding avoidance of double taxation on trade and controlling financial leakage would be helpful to boost Chinese investment in Nepal.

He also informed the gathering that Nepal Rastra Bank, the central banks of Nepal, and China will jointly look into the possibilities towards establishing a bank with Chinese participation and simplify exchange procedures between Chinese and Nepalese currencies. He assured the gathering that Chinese government would continue its support in the economic development activities initiated in joint participation of the private sector.

Speaking on the occasion, the release quoted FNCCI Chief and Vice President of Nepal China Non-Governmental Cooperation Forum Pradeep Kumar Shrestha as saying that the mutual relation between the two countries took a new twist after the establishment of diplomatic relation in 1965. Shrestha also appreciated the active role China has been playing in the developmental efforts of Nepal.

Highlighting various activities of Nepal-China Non-Governmental Cooperation Forum established in 1996 with an aim to strength private sectors’ mutual cooperation of the two countries, he said that the fifth meeting of the Forum, which would be organized at the end of the year in Pokhara, would be helpful in finding areas of extending mutual cooperation, the release said.

Referring to the soaring trade deficit of Nepal with China, President Shrestha urged the Chinese government to grant especial privilege for Nepalese products in entering into the Chinese market. He also said that both the governments should take steps to introduce modern transaction mechanism to boost mutual trade. He also stressed the need to arrange the payments of the trade between Nepal and Tibet. He urged the Chinese government to reduce recently increased customs on the import of Nepalese goods into Tibet and to open some more border trade points to expand mutual trade, according to the release.

The release also quoted Shrestha as saying that Nepalese businessmen have been encouraged by the signing of the agreement regarding the construction of Syabrubesi-Kerung road link and requested the Chinese government to make necessary arrangement to import construction materials from Nepal to use in the various development constructions being conducted in east and south China.

Shading light on the various possible joint venture projects between the two countries, Shrestha urged the Chinese side to establish a fund to extend loans to Nepal with less interest. He also underlined the importance of the Chinese cooperation in the area of information technology, according to the release.

On the occasion, high officials of the FNCCI and the Chinese delegation were also present, the release concludes.

Aviation sector seminar kicks off

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KATHMANDU, May 15 - Officials and unionists of the aviation sector of five South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member countries today pointed out the need to continue the process of interaction to enhance flight safety, provide reliable service and to achieve financial strength.

The officials and unionists expressed the views on the start of a two-day seminar organized by the Asia and Pacific Sector of the International Transport Workers Federation in the Capital.

They underscored that the trade unions of the respective countries can play a significant role in improving the financial condition of their airline companies.

Mahindra Sharma, Chairman of the Federation, expressed the hope that the seminar would chalk out some measures to ameliorate the financial condition of the airline companies of the SAARC Region.

Sharma said that the airline companies from other regions are expanding their services and making necessary changes in their operation to suit the context. This has given them competitive advantage over us and they are in a financially strong position. We can learn from them, he added.

"The aviation sector in the SAARC Region is full of challenges and the role of the trade unions cannot be underestimated to grapple with them", he said.

Captain Yuba Raj Kumar Bhattarai, General Secretary of Nepal Pilots Association, said that the seminar would be helpful in finding out measures to relieve the Royal Nepal Airlines from the present crisis.

Representatives of trade unions and cabin crewmembers from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are participating in the two-day seminar that began here today.

Nepse bearish Index falls 7 points

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KATHMANDU, May 15 - Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) Index, the barometer to investor’s confidence in the stock market, dropped by over 7 points today, dragging down the market capitalization by over Rs 928 million.

The Index today at the close of the market today touched 344.02 points from over 351 points last evening. The weekend Index last Friday had been 355 points. The Index has continued slumping since the market saw an unprecedented slide by over 22 points last February, when Index fell from 398 to 375 in a single day.

The latest series of Index fall comes as a major damper to the stock market, whose Index had touched as high as 545 points last year. Since the Index started falling from the peak, the market has lost over Rs 26 billion in capitalization. The stock market’s capitalization today stood at Rs 45 billion.

Dropping prices of the shares of commercial banks, which command almost 90 per cent of the stock trading, is the primary reason causing Index to sink. Share prices of all the banks, though the market briefly turned bullish after the February’s crash, are continuously on the slide. Experts have attributed the lack of investors’ confidence as the main reason behind the continued slumping of share prices.

Annapurna holds Karavali Food Festival

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KATHMANDU, May 15 - With a view to popularize the Karavali cuisines, which is created from spices, red chillies, coconut, pepper, fresh fish, meat and vegetables, among a host others, Hotel Annapurna is currently holding the Karavali Food Festival.

According to a press release issued here today, some of the specialties of the food festival are the tiger prawn, Malabar style, Alepy fish curry, Karavali mutton curry, Chicken salan arbi Masala fry, Kerala sambar, Appam idiappam and the bibinca.

The food festival is an attempt to capture the cuisines of the coastline of Kerela to the sun drenched beaches of Goa, the release concludes.