EIF in Nepal

From IF/EIF to NECTRADE Project

Nepal submitted her first proposal to get Integrated Framework (IF) fund in 1999 but could not receive any technical assistance until 2004. It, then, submitted its next proposal in 2004 under revamped IF and received around US$ 703,000 under IF (US$ 38,000 under Window I and US$ 665,000 under Window II). MoCS prepared Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS) in 2004 with the help of the IF funding and relentless efforts of the ministry officials along with trade experts. Nepal Window II Trade Related Capacity Building (NWII TRCB) Project was implemented in 2005 to implement recommendations (Action Matrix) of DTIS 2004. But, only a few recommended actions of DTIS 2004 could be completed under NW II TRCB Project since the duration of the project was very short (only one year with limited resources). So, major activities as recommended by DTIS 2004 were to be completed and a new project ‘Enhancing Nepal’s Trade Related Capacity Project’ was launched (2006 -2008) in order to implement DTIS 2004 and remaining IF fund was transferred to it. ENTReC Project was later extended for one year (July 2008 – June 2009).

The five intervention areas of ENTReC project were:

• increasing competitiveness of Nepali exporters,
• creating a more empowered and engaged private sector,
• enhancing the rigor of analysis underpinning Nepali trade policy,
• fostering human development friendly investment, and
• exploring areas of future promises for Nepal’s trade-related economic growth.

Activities carried out between 2006 to 2009:

• Customs (Trainings, Manuals, Instruments like CCTVs)
• Standards (equipments, trainings)
• IPR (Trainings, awareness programs)
• Trade, Industry, and Investment Policies
• Transport/Transit (feasibility studies on alternative transit routes and ICDs)
• Export potential services (Health, education and retail-end)
• Export promotion materials (Tea, honey, Pashmina etc)
• Public Private sector dialogue (BCRT at FNCCI)
• Enterprise development trainings/workshops (Jumla, Rolpa, Palpa, Dhankuta etc.)
• Strengthening EIF national implementation mechanism
• Update of DTIS Action Matrix
• Development of Tier 1 and Tier 2 proposals to get EIF fund and
• Conducted trade related need assessment activities

Other Technical Assistance in Nepal's Trade:

• European Commission (EC WTO Technical Assistance Project: Euro 2 Million)
• Signed between the GoN and European Union in December 2007 and came into effect from April 2008 to December 2011

Objectives of the Project were:

• To strengthen national SPS, TBT related organizations
• To build capacity of Ministry of Commerce and Supplies