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The representatives of the 11th National Congress of the CPN-UML are going to vote today to elect the new leadership of the party.  

According to the Chairman of UML Central Election Commission Dr Bijaya Subba, the voting will take place this afternoon. 

It is said that the voting will be conducted by electronic voting machines. 

A total of 80 electronic voting machines have been arranged for the voting purpose.  

Managing Director of Ram Laxman Innovation Pvt. Ltd, Laxman Rimal, said that entry of the candidates' name list is going on from the company.

“We are making efforts to complete our part in time and handover to the UML Central Election Commission," Rimal shared.

He also hinted at some delay in the voting time since it is time consuming to enter the names of the candidates given the large number of the candidates.   

Aspirant candidates on Monday registered their nominations for the post of office-bearers and central committee members and the final name list of the voters was released on Monday itself. 

The UML's 11th National Congress will elect a 301-member new central committee.

As per the schedule, the voting will be held at Bhrikutimandap in Kathmandu this afternoon. 

Chairperson KP Sharma Oli and Senior Vice Chairperson Ishwor Pokharel are vying for the top post in the UML.

Welcome to the launch of the new edition of the GVC Development Report, which comes out at a critical juncture for the future of value chains and the global economy. I also think it comes at a critical juncture as we try to reflect on the kind of WTO we want going forward and a valuable look at what is happening to value chains and how they are reconfiguring or not. It's very important. 

The report reflects a collective effort starting in 2017 to understand the evolution of global value chains. And I want to start by thanking UIBE President Zhao and his team at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing for producing this report. Thank you, as well as to our partners at the Asian Development Bank, IDE-JETRO, and the World Economic Forum for bringing this collaborative report to life. Our former chief economist and now editor in chief of the report Bob Koopman has been a wonderful leader throughout the two year production cycle. I'm really grateful for the excellent speakers today for bringing government and private sector perspectives on where things stand with respect to value chains and where they might be headed. The World Trade Organization Secretariat has been a proud contributor to the GVC report since the first day. I want to thank Johanna and under her the team--Victor, Michael, Ankai, Marc and other members of ERSD team. They know how proud I am of their work. It goes without seeing this is the kind of evidence of the kind of thing we are contributing to at the WTO if we are to make a difference.

This new report has reaffirmed something we at the WTO have been saying: globalization is far from over, and global value chains remain indispensable. The share of GVC trade in the global total has declined only marginally from its 2022 peak of 48%, to 46.3% last year. Firms and governments are not retreating from global integration, but reconfiguring it to meet new economic, political, and social priorities. This goes in the same direction of what we have been pushing for under the banner of a word coined by Bob Koopman called 're-globalization' that I completely fell in love with when I joined because it just captured what I was thinking and thought we should be thinking about a re-imagined globalization that helps to diversify global value chains and uses it to bring more economies that were on the margins of the global economy into the mainstream.

A unique opportunity is being presented to us for it to happen in a way that will take us away from excessive concentration, which is one of the things we are seeing now and it's amazing to me that at a time when the system is seeing so much disruption whichever way we look at it, it seems to be so resilient. Businesses are getting on, manufacturers and investors as much as they can, with the uncertainty and just doing what they know how to do best. And that's why we see the resilience in global value chains. 

In the face of the unprecedented shocks of the past decade, from the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerating climate pressures to rising geopolitical tensions and financial uncertainty global production networks have been resilient. Instead of unraveling, as some voices predicted, GVCs have been adapting, becoming more digital, and increasingly responding to security and sustainability concerns. 

The data and evidence collected for the report mainly runs through 2024 and thus they predate the tariff increases and associated uncertainty seen in 2025. That said, the latest available data as of this month appeared to confirm the report's key finding of GVC resilience. Trade growth has remained robust. Supply chains have shown themselves to be adaptable thanks to firms' agility and creative policy approaches to managing disruptions.  There are many who do not believe this evidence and find it counterintuitive. I think we have to be very ready to support and substantiate and defend the information we have.

As the Marrakech preamble reminds us, trade is a means to an end, and the report highlights how the ongoing shifts in value chains have profound implications for the way globalization affects people's lives and economic prospects. For instance, across Latin America and Africa new technologies and the green transition, together with the ongoing push for supply chain diversification, offer fresh possibilities to integrate into global value chains. Meanwhile, as the report describes, governments are using industrial policy and strategic partnerships to reposition economies within global value chains.

Consider the electric vehicle sector. China has emerged as a leader spanning inputs, assembly, and recycling. Meanwhile, African producers are seeking to retain greater value from mineral processing. Latin America is striking a growing number of sector-specific arrangements—often regulation-focused and non-binding—to position itself as another key supplier to the sector. 

At the same time, we have seen policy-driven increases in trade costs and a sharp increase in policy uncertainty. These are particularly burdensome for marginalized regions that lack an established track record of hosting multinational production. As the report's GVC readiness diagnostics highlight, these regions already have existing structural impediments to overcome, such as digital infrastructure gaps, institutional bottlenecks, and logistics constraints. The report also emphasizes an additional problem, particularly for smaller exporting firms: persistent shortages of trade finance - estimated above one trillion US dollars annually. Such factors add up and are a major reason why the report finds that the ongoing rewiring of GVCs has mostly benefited countries that were already established as suppliers.

If GVCs are to become more deconcentrated, diversified, and resilient, we need to be more creative about overcoming such obstacles. And the report contains valuable lessons in this regard. It shows that governance cooperation has continued, though less in the form of traditional bilateral and regional agreements, than via more informal, often non-binding, issue-specific frameworks. For instance, the report identifies more than 180 targeted trade deals with a focus on digital trade and critical minerals signed as of 2024. These arrangements can help build trust and predictability in the new governance landscape. Delivering new WTO frameworks, like our plurilateral Agreement on Investment Facilitation for Development, would be of immense value here.

The report sheds light on issues at the heart of current trade tensions. There is new empirical work to illustrate how industrial policy impacts propagate through upstream and downstream linkages, creating both positive learning externalities and negative displacement or overcapacity risks when effects spill over across borders. 

In conclusion, the report shows that the global trading system continues to connect people and businesses across the globe. The report itself is made in the world, it brings together contributions from more than 60 scholars—it really draws from a wide variety and it's very interesting how they bring the different perspectives into being.  

Speech delivered by WTO Director General NGOZI OKONJO-IWELA during the launch of 2025 Global Value Chain Development Report  

Chairman KP Sharma Oli and senior Vice Chairman Ishwor Pokharel filed their candidacies for the post of chairperson under its 11th General Congress. 

Both of them reached the office of the Central Election Commission set up at General Congress venue, Bhrikutimandap, with supporters today and filed their nominations.    

Chair Oli filed his candidacy at 3:30 pm while senior Vice Chair Pokharel at around 3 pm for the post of Chairperson. 

Aspirant candidates have been registering their nominations for the post of office-bearers and central committee members. 

The UML General Convention would elect a 301-member new working committee.

President Ram Chandra Paudel has called on all sides concerned to devote themselves to nation building by internalizing the mandate given by the citizens. 

He stressed the need for leadership with renewed thinking, style, plans, dedication, energy, conduct, and integrity to fulfill that mandate.

Addressing a program organized on the occasion of the 31st Kathmandu Metropolis Day in the federal capital today, the Head of State said, “It is our responsibility to hand over a prosperous nation to future generations by addressing the needs of the present time. I believe we should not deviate from fulfilling our responsibilities.”

“It is necessary for us to cultivate the feeling that politics is neither a profession nor a business; rather, it is the noblest means of social service,” the President said, adding that this is precisely what the Nepali people expect at this moment. “The same sentiment was also expressed through the recent movement of the younger generation,” he added.

Stating that seeking the people’s mandate to find solutions to the nation’s existing problems is the supreme method in a democracy, the President called on all to move forward by making the upcoming elections to the House of Representatives a success.

“The House of Representatives elections will be held on March 5 to address the aspirations of the youth for change,” Paudel reminded. “Let us move ahead by making it a success and engage in building a prosperous Nepal along with the establishment of social justice and good governance.”

The President applauded Kathmandu Metropolitan City for its innovative achievements in economic, social, and physical development efforts as well as urban management.

“I believe that the services, facilities, and programs delivered to service seekers and beneficiaries have validated the meaningful role played by youth leadership and energetic elected representatives in the metropolitan city,” President Paudel said.

He praised the local government for setting examples in urban management, river and water systems, promotion of greenery, conservation of natural heritage, restoration of temples, monasteries, ponds, lakes, stone spouts, and physical heritage, as well as in efforts toward integrated urban development.

The President added that the Kathmandu Metropolitan City has ensured its services are citizen-friendly, accountable, transparent, and service-oriented through the maximum use of information and communication technology, the operation of a single service center, and the prioritization of a grievance-management system. “This has sent a message to the public that the level of government closest to their doorstep is capable of effective local governance,” he said.

Stating that not only the policies, plans, actions, and programs implemented by the metropolitan city but also its experiences and lessons learned would serve as examples for other local levels, the President expressed his belief that the local government will continue striving to come up with the best possible policies, programmes, and plans.

He also said that for the prosperity of the capital city, the policies, programs, and plans formulated by the metropolitan municipality require support and cooperation of all bodies, including the federal and provincial governments, for effective implementation.

The President expressed confidence that Kathmandu Metropolitan City will be able to deliver more effectively in the days ahead in addressing the needs, aspirations, and dreams of its residents.

Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav, Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut, Speaker Devraj Ghimire, and National Assembly Chair Narayan Prasad Dahal were also present at the event.

On the occasion, the President honoured individuals with outstanding contributions in various fields, while the Vice President awarded local representatives for their best performances in their respective areas.