Enhancing business and investment, India-Nepal join hands to review bilateral trade treaty

NewsBharati    30-Apr-2018
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New Delhi, April 30: With the aim to boost two way commerce and investment between India and Nepal, the two countries have decided to take steps to review the existing bilateral trade treaty.

 

This was agreed during the meeting of the India-Nepal Inter Government Committee (IGC) on Trade, Transit and Cooperation to Control Unauthorised Trade in Kathmandu. This committee provides a platform for discussing and reviewing bilateral trade and transit related issues.

Facilitating Nepal’s trade with third countries, India and Nepal also chalked down and discussed amendments pertaining to the bilateral Treaty of Transit signed in 1999. Since most of the bilateral trade takes place through land customs stations across the border between India and Nepal, the two countries also agreed on synchronising development of border trade infrastructure to ensure timely utilization of investment in border infrastructure.

In order to enhance the volume of trade, both sides also emphasized the need for harmonisation of standards and expediting progress on MoUs between the concerned agencies, including BIS and FSSAI, from the Indian side.

The meeting also discussed amendments to the bilateral Treaty of Transit, signed in 1999, to further facilitate transit movement of Nepal's trade with third countries by expanding transit points, simplification of procedures, electronic cargo tracking and also enabling movement of Indian cargo through Nepali territory.

Both countries agreed to initiate a comprehensive review of the treaty by July this year. The treaty was last revised in 2009.