TIFA meeting rescheduled to Sept

The meeting of Nepal-US Council on Trade and Investment (NUSCTI) under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) has been postponed to Sept.
The meeting was scheduled to be held in Kathmandu in March.
The Nepalese Embassy in US, which notified the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies about the fresh development on Sunday, has, however, not mentioned why the meeting has been rescheduled.
Both the countries had intensified preparations for finalizing the possible agendas for the meeting that is crucial for creating environment for bi-lateral trade and investment.
Lal Mani Joshi, secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS), said the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) communicated with the MoCS through the Nepalese Embassy in this regard.
“Our embassy in the US has informed us about the postponement of NUSCTI meeting,” Joshi told Republica on Sunday. He said the letter undersigned by Nepali ambassador to US, Dr Shankar Sharma, only stated that the meeting was rescheduled as USTR preferred to hold the meeting in the last week of Sept.
The TIFA agreement signed in April, 2011 stipulates that the NUSCTI meeting -- a forum to discuss bi-lateral trade issues -- can be held once a year.
Nepali business people are anticipating bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) at the upcoming meeting in a bid to boost exports of garment and pashmina products to US that has been falling gradually since 2000.
Uday Raj Pandey, president of Garment Association Nepal (GAN), said they would push for Generalized System of Preference (GSP) facility on Nepali Readymade Garment (RMG) and pashmina products from the US in the upcoming meeting.
“Attempt to reclaim market for RMG and pashmina products will be one of the key agendas from of Nepali exporters in the meeting,” added Pandey.