Kathmandu, Apr. 6:Home Minister Govinda Raj Joshi who is also looking after the foreign affairs portfolio has said the dissemination of information regarding Nepal’s trade and investment policies, laws and about the warm climate for investment in Nepal in the fields of hydropower generation, tourism and industry is an important aspect of economic diplomacy.

Mr Joshi was addressing the Export Promotion Meeting-2000 on Economic Diplomacy for the Promotion of Trade, Investment and Tourism organised by the Ministry of Commerce with the cooperation of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry here today.

The economic diplomacy is focussed on the promotion of Nepal’s export trade, to explore markets for the Nepalese products in foreign countries, to attract greater flow of foreign investments in Nepal, to promote Nepal as an attractive tourist destination and to search development opportunities abroad for the Nepalese manpower, the Home Minister further said.

Noting that after the restoration of democracy His Majesty’s Government took economic reforms measures and liberalized its economy by opening up its market to foreign capital and products, he remarked that reforms were introduced in the direction of privatizing the state-owned enterprises.

Nepal intends to seize maximum economic benefits from the opportunities avoiding the pitfalls of globalization and meeting the challenges that are cropping up in the world economic environment, Mr Joshi said, adding Nepal being a land-locked and least developed country needs to respond to the challenges by designing compatible policies which might accrue benefits from the opportunities that the globalization process has provides.

Saying that economic diplomacy has been an important component of Nepal’s foreign policy, he remarked that the foreign aid and technical cooperation received from both the bilateral and multilateral sources contributed to laying the foundation for economic and human resources development in Nepal.

Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya said the best role for the government is that of a catalyst, a promoter, a facilitator and a regulator in all spheres of activities where the private sector, whether foreign or domestic, has the interest and the capability to undertake them.

Mr Acharya spoke of the need to promote the role and scope of the private sector in areas of activity where it either had a capability or showed inclination for involvement.

Stating that the past nine or ten years of democratic governance has shown a maturity and resilience in the democratic process yet the performance in the economic front has been rather dismal, he noted that this has happened in a context where the developmental needs of the country and aspirations of the people have nearly an impossible-to-fulfill magnitude.

There is no recourse from reforms entailing hard-decisions and the process of globalization and liberalization govern the world economy, he said, adding Nepal has to be a part of this process if it is to take advantages of the opportunities provided to accelerate the growth of its exports and to access foreign capital and technology.

Noting that we have already introduced Value Added Tax (vat) as the most integral part of our tax reforms agenda, the Finance Minister made it clear that steps have already been taken towards simplifying tax legislation with a view to make assessments more transparent and predictable.

Minister for Science and Technology Surendra Prasad Chaudhary observed that only those nations can survive in the new millennium who can build knowledge-centered societies, adding that knowledge-centered trade and industry is in itself a source of development.

Stating that we have a wealth of human capital in Nepal and we can train more in the years to come in educational institutions that we have available in the region, the minister said we can benefit from the internet economy to provide social and economic services.

Development of the internet economy is not possible unless we have the necessary telecommunications infrastructure in the country and our achievements over the last decade in the field of telecommunications infrastructure have been commendable, he further said.

Nepal Rastra Bank Governor Tilak Rawal, expressing his views on “Banking, foreign exchange and monetary support”, said aid cannot substitute trade and investment as a catalyst for accelerating the pace of economic development of a nation.

Noting that Nepal’s drive for the expansion and diversification of export is motivated by this reality, Mr Rawal observed that at the bottom of such a strategy is the appropriate trade policy buttressed by amenable foreign exchange and monetary policy of the central bank.

Presently 13 commercial banks including nine joint ventures are in operation, mobilizing resources and catering the credit of need of the business and industrial community, the nrb governor said, adding that these banks have created an environment of competitiveness in the banking industry resulting in the low cost of fund, low fees and commissions and relatively efficient services to the exporters.

Commerce secretary Mohan Dev Pant and fncci president Pradip Kumar Shrestha also expressed their views on the occasion.

The first session was chaired by former chairman of the National Planning Commission Dr. Bharat Prasad Dhital and the second session by vice president of the saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry Padma Jyoti.