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Event: Building consensus around Nepal’s Pashmina Export Strategy (en)

22 mars 2021
ITC Nouvelles

For the first time, stakeholders will meet in Pokhara, Nepal on 25 and 26 March 2021 to discuss and validate the country's Pashmina export strategy.

The event follows several rounds of online consultants that started in July 2020 under the EU-funded Trade and Investment Programme, organized by the International Trade Centre (ITC) and Nepal's Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.

The consultations:

  • Build consensus by involving the provincial government in the strategy design process, as local public institutions will implement key support activities.
  • Create business synergies between the manufacturers of Pashmina products and the goat farmers harvesting Pashmina fibre.
  • Validate the export strategy document and its detailed plan of action, focusing on backward linkages and fibre production.
  • Build momentum for collective actions between public and private actors on key priority activities identified in the export strategy.

Nepali federal and provincial governments, business associations, as well as development partners including the European Union Delegation to Nepal and the World Bank will attend the event.

Dinesh Bhattrai, Secretary of Commerce and Supplies at the Ministry will be chairing the consultation along with Durga Prasad Bhusal, the Programme's Focal Point and Ministry's Under Secretary.

The meeting is timely, as Nepal's government had identified Pashmina as one of its priority sectors for export development in 2016 and its strategy is currently under review. Moreover, spring marks the harvest of pashmina fibres and farmers will be able to connect with manufacturers through the meeting.

A field visit to a Pashmina outlet run by people with disabilities will follow the event.

About the EU-Nepal Trade and Investment Programme

The EU-Nepal Trade and Investment Programme is a four-year programme funded by the European Union (EU), to assist the Government of Nepal to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction by increasing trade and participation in regional and global value chains.

The International Trade Centre's Trade and Investment Programme works closely with Chyangra Pashmina farmers so they can benefit from fibre value-addition and improved competitiveness, linking them to local Pashmina product manufacturers. Subsequently, ITC will support them in marketing traceable products made from Nepali fibre.