Committed support from political leaders and development partners in Nepal
Nepal, 10-12 July 2012
Report
At the invitation of the Director General of Nepal Customs, Dr M. N. Paudel, the Secretary General of the WCO, Kunio Mikuriya, visited Kathmandu, Nepal from 10 to 12 July 2012 for a series of meetings with political leaders, senior government officials and business representatives who support Customs reform and modernization for economic development.
The Prime Minister, Dr Baburam Bhattarai, supported the WCO 3 P approach (Political will, People and Partnerships) as the guiding principle and added “Participation” and “Practice” as necessary elements for his country. Once Nepal’s political situation has stabilized, he hoped to accelerate growth, as the country is already showing positive economic performance. In this respect the Prime Minister expected Customs to play a critical role based on the Customs Action Plan which he approved in 2009 as the then Minister of Finance with the support of the WCO and which has been regularly updated.
The Minister of Finance, Mr Barsha Man Pun, confirmed his commitment to use the accession to the WCO Revised Kyoto Convention as the tool to simplify and modernize Customs, supported by the revision of the Customs Law.
The Secretary General also met the Chief Cabinet Secretary, Mr Madhav Prasad Ghimire, and other senior government officials to solicit support for coordinated border management. In his meeting with the Finance Secretary, Mr Krishna Hari Baskota, Nepal’s training needs were identified, and included valuation, classification, and other priority areas, such as better use of technology.
Business leaders appreciated the Customs Action Plan that clearly charted the way forward. According to the Plan a Customs enquiry point is being established with donor support. The Secretary General explained that at the recent Regional Donor Conference organized by the WCO Regional Office for Capacity Building in Bangkok, donors welcomed Nepal Customs' Action Plan which provided a clear vision, making donor coordination easier.