Govt to spend Rs 463 billion over the course of five years on NTIS 2022

KATHMANDU: The government has implemented the “Nepal Trade Integration Strategy 2022,” allocating a sizeable sum to be invested in particular exportable goods, despite the fact that two earlier programs of a similar nature had failed to produce results of noteable value.

According to Govinda Karki, joint-secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies, a new program has been launched with the goal of increasing the nation’s exports to Rs 2 trillion over the course of the following five years.

For the duration of the program’s implementation, the government has set aside Rs 463 billion in funding. Additionally, Rs 40 million has been budgeted for the program in Fiscal Year 2023/2024.

Previously, in 2010 and 2016, the government put into practice two iterations of the Nepal Integrated Trade Strategy.

The 2010 NTIS placed a strong emphasis on the development of 12 products and 7 services with the goal of making a sizable profit from exporting these goods. And a sizeable sum of money was also budgeted by the government to help with their production. .

The government revised it in 2016 due to the businesses selling the vast majority of the items on the lists performing poorly. The list of goods and services identified as requiring special handling was whittled down from 19 to 12.

From the NTIS 2010 list, items like lentils, honey, noodles, handmade paper, silver jewelry, and iron and steel products were eliminated.

Health, education, engineering, and hydroelectricity were dropped from the service lists. When the government updated its ambitious trade plan in 2016, fabrics, textiles, yarn, leather, and footwear were added to the list.

The program was started by the government as a response to the growing trade deficit of the nation. The government offered a cash incentive of up to 5% of the export values of the goods to encourage export.

However, the majority of the products mentioned in both programs didn’t produce the desired results.

To support the program, the government has included large cardamom, ginger, legumes, jute, tea, medicinal herbs, aromatic plants, handmade papers, rosin, and turpentine, woolen carpet, jewelry, and iron and steel products.

In addition, Himalayan spring water, fruits, processed foods, natural fibers, coffee, handicrafts, and PPC cement have all been taken into consideration for the targeted programs. .

13 trade-related strategies have been found by the program. 164 areas have been flagged for reform under these.

The earlier failure of the trade-focused programs has been attributed to a lack of coordination between the government agencies, the absence of result-based monitoring mechanisms, and a lack of high-quality products in the product lines.

According to former commerce secretary Purushottam Ojha, “the NTIS will succeed only if the government focuses on solving problems of coordination in the implementation part, along with quality enhancement and identifying potential markets for specific products.”