With trade between India and Nepal on the upswing and Visakhapatnam gaining prominence, Nepal should set up a consulate or at least a trade facilitation centre, said Visakhapatnam Port Trust Chairman M. T. Krishnababu on Wednesday.
Mr. Krishnababu was speaking as the chief guest at a one-day workshop on Nepal-India trade organised by the Embassy of Nepal.
He said Visakhapatnam had been notified as the second gateway port after Kolkata/Haldia for Nepal a year ago but the trade from here was still in the nascent stage.
He said the container terminal, with a deep draft, was among the best in the country, and it would offer great advantages to the trade between the countries.
“Though geographically Kolkata/Haldia may be nearer to Nepal, Vizag may work out cheaper considering other factors and advantages here,” he said.
Mr. Krishnababu pointed out that the Container Corporation of India (Concor) had set up a logistics park here at a cost of ₹500 crore and Vizag also enjoyed excellent rail connectivity.
He urged the Nepal delegation to make use of the facilities here.
Nepal’s Ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyaya said for land-locked Nepal, India was the biggest trading partner.
“However, there are a few issues to be sorted out and both Nepal and India are working towards that end,” he said.
Minor irritants
Purushottam Ojha, a former Nepalese bureaucrat, said the bilateral trade treaties would have to be revisited to remove some of the obstacles.
B.C Upreti, an academic, said the unauthorised trade between the two countries was a matter of great concern and the problem would have to be addressed soon.
G. Sambasiva Rao, president-elect of the AP Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation, said the Nepalese trade would find all the facilities it needed at the Vizag port.
