Nepal-Pakistan JEC meet from Monday

Finance Minister Shankar Koirala is going to Islamabad on Saturday to take part in the sixth meeting of Joint Economic Commission between Nepal and Pakistan scheduled on August 19-20.

The finance minister-level meeting – that is taking place after eight years – will review bilateral cooperation in various sectors including trade and commerce, investment and industry, and cooperation and trainings in health and education.

Shankar Koirala is leading the 1 0-member Nepali delegation, whereas the Pakistani finance minister will lead the host country.

Nepal-Pakistan Joint Economic Commission – set up in 1983 to promote bilateral economic cooperation between the two South Asian countries—last met in March 2005 for the fifth JEC meeting in Kathmandu. The meeting had discussed on cooperation in the fields of health, education, human resources, development, trade, industry and tourism.

Though the regional trade agreement SAFTA was expected to boost the trade and investment between themselves, both the countries have comparatively very less trade and business cooperations. Nepal exported Rs 176.40 million worth goods to Pakistan, whereas imported Rs 245.33 million worth goods in 2012, according to the data from the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC).