KATHMANDU: Ambassador of Finland to Nepal Pertti Anttinen has said that Finland is ready to negotiate with European Union for Nepal’s development.
Speaking at the interaction program “Doing Business with Finland” organized by the Institute of Strategic and Socio-Economic Research (ISSR) in Kathmandu Ambassador Anttinen said Finland is supporting and funding different projects in Nepal.
He asserted that there is a business opportunity between Nepal and Finland.
“Ministers with business delegation had planned to come to Nepal in April 2020. But due to the Covid pandemic, everything turned down, he said, adding, “We had so many good plans and activities for the future.”
He believes that the Embassy of Finland and Finland could not do many activities due to the pandemic in Nepal. He added Nepal’s economy has suffered a lot during this period.
During the pandemic, Finland supported Nepal by providing materials including vaccines to address the covid-19. Finland is still engaged with COVID19 related activities.
Finland has been running a program for sanitation and education in Nepal including gender equality and, funding different sectors for the development of Nepal for 40 years, according to him.
FinnPartership is a program that Finland is funding in different projects in Nepal.
He said, “Finland is importing from developing countries mainly LDC countries. That funding might find a market in Finland. Nepal is promoting from LDC countries from 2026 and European market is big and we are the part of it”.
There is no levy of duty on exports products in Nepal, he said, Nepal has not taken its opportunity and should take the opportunity to export to European markets any products that can be exported.
He also suggested, Nepal should negotiate with European Union to increases its exports in European markets. Only a few products have been exported to Finland like carpets, pashmina, tea, coffee, and others. Finnish people have a conception map of Nepal and have a friendly good relationship.
There are many Finnish companies in India and they are happy to cooperate with businesses in Nepal.
The business partnership between Nepal and Finland would boost and trade of Nepal.
Ambassador said he will encourage the FinnFund, a Finnish development financier and impact investor that offers long-term investment loans and venture capital to private companies for projects in developing countries and the Finnish private sectors to invest in Nepal.
Similarly, Nepal Chamber of Commerce President Rajesh Kazi Shrestha said that Nepal’s business sector has been compelled to face losses and difficulties during pandemics. We are looking for how we can export and bring investment in Nepal, he added.
For exporting, we need to focus on mainly carpets, pashmina, tea, or herbal products, he added. Finland is one of the best in education and cleanliness, we can import that education and technology for the cleanliness of cities in Nepal, he suggested.
As Nepal has an import-based economy, now is the right time how Finland and Nepal to work together “to export our products to earn foreign currencies”, Shrestha said.
Similarly, Naresh Shrestha, Director of ISSR said that Nepal has several good products but it has not been able to sell due to the lack of product presentation and packaging of the products.
“There are possibilities of exporting Nepali goods to Finland but we should focus on quality and uniformity of our products, he added.
He also expressed the hope that Nepal could bring Finish company and technology to Nepal.
Shrestha requested youth entrepreneurs and businessmen to submit goods that can be exported to Finland. He assured that he would help with the marketing of products in Finland and Finnish partners and businessmen.
During the interaction, the Executive Director of Office Works Enterprises Sanjeena Tuladhar asked how Nepal could export the hand-made bags or clothing to the European market?
Shrestha responded that the products that should be exported should have to check the color, design, and size of the products that are exported.
To a query from Bandana Upreti, Legal Advisor of Rastriya Khadya Bank Ltd as to what sort of agricultural goods (like Bagmati rice, black rice) and products do Finland import, Ambassador Pertti Anttinen said that the agricultural products of Nepal are struggling for exports.
Exports of agricultural products are possible but the price, volume, and quality of the products is the main factor before exporting any goods mainly agricultural products. Production in Nepal is on a small scale and volume is also an issue, he said.
In terms of agricultural goods exports, Nepal faced hard to compete with the pricing with other countries such as India.
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