KATHMANDU, AUG 28 – Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Wu Chuntai on Wednesday said that the limited capacity of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) and lack of other international airports in Nepal had stood as a major hindrance to increased air connectivity between Nepal and China.

  Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Wu Chunta

Currently, the government has been upgrading Gautam Buddha airport in Bhairahawa to a regional international airport with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) while there has been little progress in developing another planned regional international airport in Pokhara with Chinese assistance.

“Once two international airports are built in Pokhara and Lumbini, there will be more space for air connectivity and more Chinese tourists will come to Nepal,” he said. He added that there were other Chinese airlines that wanted to conduct direct flights to Nepal from Beijing and Shenzhen if TIA was upgraded.

The flow of Chinese tourists has been increasing in recent years. According to the Tourism Ministry, arrivals from the northern neighbour reached an all-time high of 113,173 last year largely due to improved air connectivity.

With the growing number of Chinese arrivals to Nepal, the two countries agreed a few months ago to let Chinese carriers operate 56 flights weekly from 14 flights earlier.

At present, three Chinese airlines—Air China, China Eastern and China Southern—operate daily scheduled flights to Nepal from Guangzhou, Kunming and Lhasa. Similarly, China’s Sichuan Airlines has been showing interest in linking Nepal. The Chinese envoy also stressed the need to promote Nepal as a tourist destination in China. According to him, Nepal can tap some portion of the large number of Chinese tourists through promotional activities. Every year, around 97 million Chinese travel abroad.

“Nepal can also benefit by attracting the tourists visiting Tibet with which Nepal shares close land connectivity,” he said. According to him, Tibet receives 15 million visitors annually. “If Nepal could lure even a small percentage of Tibet-bound visitors, it would greatly enhance the country’s tourism sector.”

Earlier, Rajesh Kaji Shrestha, president of the Nepal Chamber of Commerce, had urged the Chinese envoy to help increase air connectivity to increase the flow of Chinese tourists. He also urged simplifying visas for Chinese visitors to Nepal.

Apart from the issue of boosting arrivals from China, Shrestha urged greater Chinese investment in agriculture, hydropower and mining-related industries. He also called for facilitating the establishment of branches of Chinese bank in Nepal which would simplify business transactions between the two countries. China has been providing duty-free facility to 7,831 products from Nepal. “However, problems like complex quarantine procedures and certificate of origin process and lack of provision for providing multiple entry visas for businessmen have been preventing traders from benefiting from the duty-free facility,” said Shrestha.

Meanwhile, the Chinese ambassador said Nepali traders should focus on increasing value addition in their products and developing B2B relationship with their Chinese counterparts to enhance the country’s trade with China. According to him, there is growing demand for Nepali products like handicrafts, cheese and tea in China.

China willing to help landslide victims

Chinese Ambassador Wu Chuntai on Wednesday said that China was willing to provide logistic support worth 2 million yuan to the victims of the landslide and flooding of the Sunkoshi River at Jure of Sindhupalchok district on August 2. “We are holding talks with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the purpose,” said the envoy, adding that they were also willing to provide technical support to reconstruct the areas devastated by the landslide. Nepal-China trade through the Tatopani customs point has been at a standstill for the last three weeks as the Araniko Highway to Tibet was destroyed by the landslide and flood. The Chinese envoy said they had facilitated transportation of trade goods through the Kyirong-Rasuwagadhi route. “Some cargo carrying containers from China have already arrived in Kathmandu through the alternative route,” he said.

Source : Ekantipur