India-Nepal Summit '23: Birgunj Hosts 2nd Economic Partnership
A one-day "India-Nepal Economic Partnership Summit 2023" in Birgunj aimed to explore avenues for strengthening bilateral economic ties. The event, held in collaboration with the Consulate General of India, Birgunj, Nepal, and the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BICCI), was organized by the India-Nepal Centre of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) for the second consecutive year. During the summit's inauguration, Atul K Thakur, Secretary of the India-Nepal Centre at PHDCCI and the Session Chair, emphasized the importance of a collaborative approach between government and industry stakeholders. He highlighted the need for harnessing the abundant potential and addressing post-pandemic challenges through economic cooperation between India and Nepal.
"In today's time, Nepal, being the friendliest neighbour of India, has an active role to play in the South Asia region. As we are all aware, SAARC has been mostly dysfunctional over the years, and other forums too have their limitations. Now it's time that friendly neighbours India and Nepal also should come forward and create business for sub-regional cooperation", Atul K Thakur, Secretary of the India-Nepal Centre, PHDCCI, said addressing the summit.
The summit dwelt on 'New Roadmap for Accelerating India-Nepal Bilateral Cooperation; Promoting Industrial Development in Nepal and India; Revisiting Bilateral Trade Policies; Expanding Bilateral and Sub-regional Economic Cooperation; Improving Border Area Development and Connectivity.' In his opening remarks, BICCI president Anil Kumar Agrawal recounted Birgunj's achievements as a major trade hub of Nepal and how BICCI has been contributing over the decades to making industry and trade, the mainstay of this place, crucially important for India-Nepal economic relations.
Devi Sahai Meena, Consul General of India in Birgunj, Nepal, serving as the Chief Guest and Keynote Speaker at the Summit, affirmed India's commitment to advancing economic cooperation with Nepal. He underscored India's role as a pivotal development partner for Nepal, emphasizing support through both policy formulation and implementation. "India is Nepal's largest trading partner and the largest source of foreign investments. India accounts for almost two-thirds of Nepal's merchandise trade, one-third of trade in services, one-third of direct foreign investments, almost 100 percent of petroleum supplies and a significant share of remittances", Devi Sahai Meena, Consul General of the Consulate of India in Birgunj, said addressing the event.
"The Indian Consulate in Birgunj has been organizing table talks with the entrepreneurs and businesses of Nepal to explore their problems and solve the issues. We have been doing it and will continue it in further days," Meena said. On the summit, Satish Pattapu, Consul (Economic Cooperation & Commerce), Consulate General of India, Birgunj, Nepal, shared an overview of the main constituents of economic cooperation and challenges at the policy level that need to be tackled.
The deliberations, which were supported by the decision-makers, aimed to open new avenues of business engagement in the key sectors of the economy, besides giving a much-needed boost to trade near the crucial India-Nepal border at Birgunj, an economic hub of Nepal. The Summit played a role in creating a platform through joint action for deeper economic engagement between India and Nepal (with a focus on remittances, imports, exports and balance of payment (BoP) challenges in Nepal).
The summit aimed to facilitate two-way investment flows between India and Nepal, re-establish bilateral relations, foster collaboration between industry and government, and highlight the potential of the Border Area Development Programme. It also advocated for significant Indian involvement in enhancing infrastructure in Nepal's border districts in Bihar and establishing cluster-based economic zones across Nepal.
