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Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal and Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Chan Song held a meeting in Singha Durbar on Friday. During the meeting, they discussed various matters related to bilateral cooperation and other issues of mutual interests, a source at the Foreign Ministry said. The source claimed that preparations are being made for a high-level visit between the two countries in the near future and the duo held the meeting to discuss the same. Earlier on Thursday, the Chinese Ambassador had met CPN-UML senior Vice-Chairman Ishwor Pokharel. Though China had invited Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to take part in the Boao conference, he did not participate in the meeting citing internal reasons.  

Newly appointed ministers took the oath of office and secrecy on Friday. President Ram Chandra Paudel administered the oath of office and secrecy to 10 newly appointed ministers amidst a function this afternoon. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal today appointed 10 ministers from the 10-party alliance. Purna Bahadur Khadka has been appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Prakash Sharan Mahat as the Finance Minister, Ramesh Rijal as the Industry, Commerce and Supplies Minister and Sita Gurung as the Urban Development Minister from the Nepali Congress. Similarly, Shakti Bahadur Basnet has been appointed as the Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation from the CPN (Maoist Center). Deputy Prime Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha was given the responsibility of Home Ministry while the posts of other Maoist ministers have been kept intact. Likewise, Beduram Bhusal has been appointed as the Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development and Prakash Jwala as the Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport from the CPN (Unified Socialist). Similarly, Ashok Rai has been appointed as the Minister for Education, Science and Technology from the Janata Samajbadi Party, Sharad Singh Bhandari as the Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security from the Democratic Socialist Party, Mahendra Raya as the Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens from the Nepal Samajbadi and Ranjita Shrestha as the Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation from the Nagarik Unmukti Party. Meanwhile, Drinking Water Minister Abdul Khan submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Dahal. Khan, who is also the Vice-Chairman of the Janamat Party, tendered his resignation after he did not get the Ministry of Industry. Dahal was appointed as the Prime Minister on December 25. The CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Dahal, who had forged an alliance with the CPN-UML, took the oath of office and secrecy on December 26. The UML quit the government by withdrawing the support extended to Dahal on March 27 after the Maoist decided to support Nepal Congress in the presidential and vice-presidential elections. Prime Minister Dahal, who had led the 10-party alliance, secured a vote of confidence for the second time on March 20.  

There has been a big increase in the country's foreign currency earnings from international students coming to study in Nepal in the current fiscal year. The latest macroeconomic report published by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) shows the country earned Rs 2.02bn in the first seven of FY 2022/23 from foreign students, an increase of 125.51 percent from Rs 897.3m in the same period of the last fiscal year. The country earned Rs 1.51bn from foreign students in FY 2021/22. According to NRB, such earning was Rs 1.04bn in FY 2020/21 and Rs 2.23bn in FY 2019/20. The foreign currency earnings from education declined in the last two fiscal years due to the Covid-19 pandemic as foreign students could not come to Nepal. However, with the easing of international travel, there has been a surge in the number of foreign students studying in the country lately. Apart from subjects such as history and language, the majority of foreign students come to Nepal for medical education. According to the Medical Education Commission, 265 foreign students were enrolled in medical colleges in the last fiscal year. According to the commission, students from Bhutan, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, and other countries come to Nepal for medical education. Currently, about 500 foreign students are studying at different medical colleges in Nepal. Similarly, foreigners also come to study language, history, law, and other subjects. But there is no integrated data on the number of foreign students studying in Nepal. As per the Medical Education Commission rule, 8.25 percent of seats in public medical colleges, 33 percent of seats in private medical colleges, and 50 percent of seats in private medical colleges run by foreign management have been allotted for foreign students. When foreign students study in Nepal, a large amount of money is spent on educational fees, housing expenses, etc. Education experts say that if the standard of the country’s education system is improved, Nepal can attract more foreign students as well as earn more foreign currency. While there has been growth in the foreign exchange earnings from international students coming to Nepal, the country is spending a much higher amount to pay the bills of Nepali students who’re studying abroad. As more Nepalis have been going abroad to study in recent years, more money is going outside the country for the purpose. The NRB report shows Nepalis have spent Rs 43.74bn in the first seven months of the current fiscal year for foreign education. Such spending amounted to Rs 67.70bn for education abroad in the last fiscal year 2021/22 which had surged due to the suppressed number of outgoing Nepali students in the previous two fiscal years due to Covid-related restrictions. In FY 2020/21 and FY 2019/20, spending for education decreased to Rs 24.95bn and Rs 25.81bn, according to NRB.

The Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) has begun preparations to open the way for small and medium industries (SMEs) to enter the secondary market. Issuing a draft of 'Securities Issuance and Trading Regulations of Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)', Sebon has sought suggestions from the stakeholders concerned. This is the first time that Sebon has introduced such regulations to encourage SMEs to raise money from the capital market. Once the rules come into force, SMEs can issue an initial public offering (IPO) to become publicly listed companies. As per the proposed regulations, Sebon has classified companies with paid-up capital of less than Rs 250m as SMEs. Such companies can issue an IPO at a face value of Rs 100 per share and investors can apply for a minimum of 250 units of shares. SMEs can issue an IPO in the ratio of 30 percent to 49 percent of their paid-up capital. The draft of the regulation has stated that SMEs will be allowed to issue IPO only one year after they become public. The Sebon has exempted SMEs from mandatory credit rating for IPOs. Currently, companies issuing IPO and rights shares must get credit ratings from credit rating agencies. The proposed regulation says credit rating is not mandatory for SMEs. However, the board may instruct concerned companies for a credit rating if deemed necessary. As per the draft, SMEs can also issue IPO at a premium price. But, they have to meet certain criteria such as remaining profit in three fiscal years. According to Sebon, it will bring a separate SME index into operation. "A separate SME index will be brought into operation through which trading of SMEs will be carried out," said Ramesh Kumar Hamal, chairman of the Sebon.

Open sewer lines. People, including senior citizens, women and children, waiting in long queues for their turn. Discarded materials scattered in the entrails. Stinking toilets. Poor infrastructure. An utter absence of occupational health and safety measures. A perennial lack of human resources. Most importantly, mismanagement presiding over the chaos. Well, this is our diagnosis of two government-run hospitals—Civil Service Hospital and Bir Hospital. Let’s delve a little deeper into the matter. The recent ApEx report titled ‘Civil Service Hospital Crowded like a fair’ points that the 112-bed hospital has been serving more than 1,000 people daily, despite a chronic lack of infrastructure and human resources required to cater to a burgeoning crowd of patients. What’s more, there’s a long list of patients awaiting surgery, for months. The hospital administration remains upbeat, nonetheless. It hopes that many of these problems will be gone once its plan to develop a 10-storey building with 1,000 beds materializes. What’s hindering the ambitious project? The government’s inability to approve a budget for the same. Our diagnosis of Bir is that the country’s oldest hospital is also gravely ill. In the course of roughly two decades, the condition of the hospital’s main building has gone worse from bad, what with taps either broken or leaking, stinking loos that are literally open with bolts of the doors gone and tap water that is murky as the report titled Bir Hospital must change itself to deliver quality services points. Add to these spectacles people holding medical reports while assisting their sick relatives to walk, senior citizens sitting on the floor (for want of chairs) or wandering aimlessly wearing confused expressions on their faces, long queues outside counters and inadequate infrastructure for wheelchair-bound patients. Worryingly, the above-mentioned points are a pointer to a systemic disease. They show that the country’s public health system is seriously ill. Per records, 32,218 MBBS and BDS doctors, and 10,080 specialist doctors are registered with the Nepal Medical Council, while 73,889 nurses and 1,326 specialized nurses are registered with the Nepal Nursing Council. Many of these professionals have left the country in search of greener pastures. Summing up, the sorry state of affairs at the two hospitals paints an alarming picture of the public health system. While the medical fraternity has a crucial role to change things for the better, the government should play a lead role to fix the system before it’s too late. The focus should be on improving public health infrastructure and curbing the outflow of human resources associated with the sector.  

The price of gold has increased by Rs 1, 000 per tola in the domestic market on Friday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 109, 200 per tola today. The gold was traded at Rs 108, 200 per tola on Thursday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 108, 700 per tola. It was traded at Rs 107, 700. Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 25 and is being traded at Rs 1,400 per tola today.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and President Ram Chandra Paudel held a meeting on Friday. In the meeting held at the President’s office in Sheetal Niwas this morning, they discussed Cabinet expansion, a Baluwatar source said. The source said that PM Dahal and President Paudel discussed Cabinet expansion and swearing-in among other issues. The Prime Minister is preparing to expand the Cabinet by inducting some ministers today. Prime Minister Dahal has asked for the name of ministers with all the political parties of the ruling coalition by 1 pm today.  

After three years of border closures and transportation disturbances, hopes that Nepal-China trade will gather momentum have rekindled as the two neighbors agreed to fully reopen two major border points for bilateral trade. Ever since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, Nepal's trade with its northern neighbor hit a roadblock with frequent closing and opening of the Rasuwagadhi and Tatopani border points from where the majority of inland trade takes place. Senior Nepali and Chinese officials during the first meeting of Nepal-China Coordination Mechanism on Border Trade and Cooperation, agreed to fully reopen the Rasuwagadhi- Kerung border point for two-way trade and movement of people from April 1 and the Tatopani-Khasa border point from May 1. "The Chinese side has also agreed to consider setting up a multi-functional lab on the Nepal-China border," reads the statement issued by the Consulate General of Nepal, Lhasa after the meeting on Wednesday evening. Businessmen engaged in the Nepal-China trade have welcomed the development. “It is the news we had long been longing to hear,” said Ashok Kumar Shrestha, President of Nepal Trans-Himalaya Border Commerce Association (NTHBCA). “The reopening of the border points for movement of goods and people would help boost bilateral trade through the land routes.” The two sides are scheduled to organize a special event on the Chinese side of the border on April 1 to mark the reopening of the border. “Officials from Nepal's consulate general office in Lhasa, Nepali government officials, Chinese officials, and Nepali drivers of cargo trucks will attend the reopening ceremony,” said a senior official of the Department of Customs (DoC). Rasuwagadhi and Tatopani have not been fully operational since early 2020 after the outbreak of coronavirus. Initially, Nepal chose to close the border after the coronavirus spread in China but border points could not be fully operational due to the strict zero-Covid policy adopted by China. China on Dec 28 last year opened the Rasuwagadhi border point for exports of Nepali goods though it was already reopened for one-way import of goods from China to Nepal only. The Tatopani-Khasa border point has remained closed for a long time though it was occasionally reopened since the pandemic hit the world. Even after the reopening of the Rasuwagadhi border point for two-way traffic of goods, China has been imposing a quota system for the export and import of goods which has prevented the full realization of export and import through this border point. According to the DoC official, the Chinese side has been releasing just 14 containers a day currently. “They have also allowed containers of Nepali goods three days a week with a maximum of 10 containers in a day,” said the official. Handicrafts, bamboo seats, carpets, and metal utensils are among the goods exported from Nepal to China through this route since the border was reopened for two-way traffic of goods. According to DoC, goods worth Rs 140.5m were exported to China through Rasuwagadhi- Kerung border points till mid-March this fiscal year. The customs official said that they expected the import of over 25 containers of goods and export of 4-5 containers of goods in a day. Due to uncertainty over the reopening of the border, the majority of Nepali importers of goods from China diverted to the sea route, which is less expensive though it is time-consuming compared to bringing goods through land routes with China. NTHBCA President Shrestha said that full reopening could encourage traders to divert their shipment routes from the seas to the land routes. “It also depends on transportation costs and connectivity and other physical infrastructure in the bordering areas,” he said. Over the last several years, imports from China have grown steadily except for occasional hiccups such as in the fiscal year 2019/20 when the government in Nepal imposed a lockdown in March 2020 to curb coronavirus transmission that went on for nearly four months. On the other hand, Nepal’s exports to its northern neighbor have dwindled leading to a massive trade deficit in the trade between the two countries. Nepal’s exports to China in the last FY 2021/22 stood at just Rs 808m, with a consistent drop from Rs 2.1bn in FY 2018/19. During the same period, imports from China grew to Rs 264.78bn in FY 2021/22 from Rs 205.51bn in FY 2018/19, according to the Department of Customs statistics. “The closure of borders has cost dearly to Nepal’s exports to China as the majority of such exports take place through land routes,” said Purusottam Ojha, former Secretary of Commerce. As a result, the ratio of exports to China compared to imports from the northern neighbor plunged to just 0.3 percent in FY 2021/22 from as high as one percent in FY 2018/19. This ratio was 3.1 percent in FY 2013/14 when the country had exported goods worth Rs 2.84bn to its northern neighbor. Nepal exports more goods to China through land routes. Since the coronavirus pandemic began, Nepali exporters have been forced to use air routes to export certain goods to China which is expensive. The DoC official said that Nepal’s export growth would also depend on whether Chinese authorities would continue to impose non-tariff barriers. “Though Nepal was allowed to export a number of goods since late December last year, Nepal’s food items have not been allowed to enter China so far,” said the official. Nepal-China Bilateral Trade (first 8 months) (in Rs, in bn)