The Nepali government plans to promote its pashmina products through the Belt and Road International Trade and Investment Platform (BRITIP) in China to boost China-Nepal trade, according to an official.
Purchasers and suppliers around the globe can conduct mutual trade through the BRITIP. According to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, the platform was created with a joint initiative of chambers of commerce and associations from countries and regions along the Belt and Road routes.
Proposed by China in 2013, the initiative aims to build a trade and infrastructure network which will link Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes of the Silk Road.
According to a local chapter of the platform, a team of the international platform had been to Nepal recently to join the Nepal Investment Summit which was held on March 2-3. The local chapter has been recently launched last November.
China and Nepal have come to an understanding on trading Nepali pashmina in China, said Bhaskar Raj Rajkarnikar, chairman of the local chapter. China is one of the biggest markets in the world via BRITIP platform.
"Nepal has got a huge opportunity to increase exports of Nepali pashmina to China," the chairman said.
Shanker Prasad Pandeya, president of Nepal Pashmina Industries Association, said that the platform will sell Nepali pashmina in China once the entrepreneurs have presented product information.
"Agreement has not been signed on the matter, but understanding has been reached," Pandeya said.
Based on the statistics of Nepal Rastra Bank, the country’s central bank, $201,149 worth of Nepali pashmina was sold to China, as of first seven months of the current fiscal year starting in mid-July 2016.
Traditionally, Nepali pashmina is marketed to Western countries, including European countries and the U.S. However, according to Nepali entrepreneurs, China had apparently been an important market for Nepali pashmina.
"It is a growing market and we can take benefit of [the] Chinese market with the help of Belt and Road investment platform," Pandeya said.
Pashmina products will soon enhance China-Nepal trade, thanks to the Belt and Road investment platform.