Apparel Online India Magazine May 2nd Issue 2018 | Page 51

BEYOND INDIA
Foundation stone laid for garment
processing unit in Nepal to bolster exports
Foundation stone for an upcoming
garment processing unit under the
Special Economic Zone Authority
Programme of the Government of
Nepal was laid by Prime Minister
KP Sharma Oli recently.
The garment processing factory
is being set up in south Nepal’s
Bara District with an investment
of around 10 billion Nepali Rupees.
The unit will be spread over an area
of more than 61.45 million square
feet. Despite being a member of the
World Trade Organization (WTO)
and the South Asian Free Trade
Area (SAFTA), which promises
hassle-free cross-border movement
of goods and services, Nepal still
struggles to increase its exports.
The lack of product diversification
is one such factor because of which
Nepal witnessed a decline in export
of readymade garments in recent
years. The country reported a 9.9
per cent drop in export earnings to
Rs. 5.3 billion in the previous fiscal,
reveals the latest available report.
The country started reporting a
decline in export of readymade
garments to the US from 2003 after
it revoked duty-free, quota-free
market access to Nepali products.
The country used to be its largest
buyer till 2000. Later in 2016, the
US evoked duty-free access to
77 tariff lines under the Trade
Preference Programme for Nepal.
The Nepalese Government kicked
off the construction of a Rs. 2.5
billion garment processing zone
spread over 300 bighas in Bara
to amplify readymade garment
exports from the country, earlier
this year.
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