POST REPORT
KATHMANDU, OCT 21 -
Nepal has become the world’s fourth largest producer of ginger after India, China and Indonesia.
In fiscal 2007-08, Nepali farmers produced 158,905 tons of ginger worth Rs. 9.2 billion compared to the global output of 1.3 million tons. Exports amounted to Rs. 1.3 billion out of which 99 percent went to India, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.
Ginger is one of the agriculture products identified by Nepal Trade Integration Strategy (NTIS) 2010 having export potentials. Ginger export from Nepal has been increasing in the past six years. From 2004 to 2008, the export of ginger has increased by 34 percent, according to NTIS.
The NTIS says increased use of ginger by Ayurveda pharmaceutical industries in India and Nepal and high potential for product diversification -jam, jelly, candy, sauces- makes ginger one of the export potential products
The fact that more farmers are in to commercial ginger farming can be gauged by the fact that its farming has spread in to 16,788 hectors of land in 2009-10 from 11,830 hectors of 2003-04. However, its productivity has not increased significantly.
Ginger production has increased to 190,544 tons in 2009-10 from 150,593 tons in 2003-04. Productivity per hectare is 11 tons in comparison to 18 tons in India and 51 tons in the US. "Productivity in our country
is very low due to lack of hybridized seeds, technology and manure," said Dahal.
Although the government has not taken any initiative for commercial farming, farmers have been producing ginger at the local level. Ilam is at the top position in ginger production among two dozen ginger producing districts including Palpa, Salyan, Doti, Morang, Kailali and Syangja.
In fiscal 2007-08, ginger output amounted to 27,675 tons in Ilam, 12,688 tons in Palpa, 12,300 tons in Salyan, 9,300 tons in Doti, 8,400 tons in Morang, 7,500 tons in Kailali and 5,000 tons in Syangja. Dhading, Tanahu and
Bhojpur are also large producers of ginger. Some of the farmers from Palpa have even begun ginger export to Japan.
Though ginger export from Nepal is gradually increasing, Nepal imported ginger worth Rs. 550 million due to lack of access to markets and transportation. About 96 percent of the imports came from China with the rest coming from Hong Kong, Ethiopia, India and Canada. Hari Dahal, spokesperson of the Agriculture Ministry, said that traders were forced to import ginger despite adequate domestic production because of lack of access to markets.
Apart from the use of ginger as a spice, it is also used in medicine and oil processing. Dahal said that export prospects could be expanded by building processing plants and cold stores. The US, Saudi Arabia, England, Japan and Spain are among the largest consumers of ginger.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
More muscle for TIA
SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, OCT 21 -
Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), the country’s sole international airport is getting some new infrastructure while the existing system is being renovated to increase facilities and enhance passenger processing capacity.
Officials at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the regulatory body of the aviation sector, said that the renovation and construction works had been carried out through CAAN’s internal budget considering the pressure on TIA to handle passengers’ rush during the Nepal Tourism Year 2011 (NTY-2011). NTY’s 100-days countdown began on Oct. 7, and the government as well as private sector is gearing the up for construction and renovation work more aggressively.
Due to inadequate modern facilities, TIA is compelled to face huge challenges because of the continuous traffic growth for the last couple of years.
TIA, which was designed to handle 1,300 passengers per hour, sometimes has to process over 2,000 passengers. The pressure is likely to mount as the country has targeted to attract an additional over one million inbound and outbound passengers’ movement.
“We are using the CAAN’s internal budget for the purpose although the overall TIA improvement project has been undertaken by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funding,” said CAAN’s director general Ram Prasad Neupane.
According to him, the CAAN’s internal improvement programme would not get in the way of ADB’s TIA improvement project. “The renovation and construction work does not come under the detail design undertaken by TIA improvement project,” he added.
Some short-term programmes like constructing a golden gate at the entry point, runway maintenance, radar antenna maintenance, sterile hall construction, billboards in different places and helicopter apron construction among other projects are on in full swing to enhance TIA’s capacity.
The internal budget of CAAN will also be utilized for painting the building and improvement and cleaning of a restroom. All this immediate internal work will be completed before the NTY-2011 starts. The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation has directed that the work be done at the earliest.
The country has targeted to bring 700,000 tourists by air during the campaign. The new international airlines connecting Nepal have created both opportunities and challenges for TIA. Currently, there are 28 international airlines operating in Nepal. According to the Tourism Ministry, international airlines in Nepal are estimated to reach over 32 soon.
In 2009, the TIA processed over 2 million (incoming and outgoing passengers). However, with the campaign target to bring over 700,000 tourists by air TIA should handle additional 1.4 million inbound and outbound passengers’ movement.
TIA general manager Dinesh Shrestha said that the golden gate construction, laying marble slabs on the ground surface of the terminal and helicoptor parking areas are in the final stage. TIA has called a tender for gardening and welding of walls. “The remaining work will be accomplished soon,” he said.
KATHMANDU, OCT 21 -
Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), the country’s sole international airport is getting some new infrastructure while the existing system is being renovated to increase facilities and enhance passenger processing capacity.
Officials at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the regulatory body of the aviation sector, said that the renovation and construction works had been carried out through CAAN’s internal budget considering the pressure on TIA to handle passengers’ rush during the Nepal Tourism Year 2011 (NTY-2011). NTY’s 100-days countdown began on Oct. 7, and the government as well as private sector is gearing the up for construction and renovation work more aggressively.
Due to inadequate modern facilities, TIA is compelled to face huge challenges because of the continuous traffic growth for the last couple of years.
TIA, which was designed to handle 1,300 passengers per hour, sometimes has to process over 2,000 passengers. The pressure is likely to mount as the country has targeted to attract an additional over one million inbound and outbound passengers’ movement.
“We are using the CAAN’s internal budget for the purpose although the overall TIA improvement project has been undertaken by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funding,” said CAAN’s director general Ram Prasad Neupane.
According to him, the CAAN’s internal improvement programme would not get in the way of ADB’s TIA improvement project. “The renovation and construction work does not come under the detail design undertaken by TIA improvement project,” he added.
Some short-term programmes like constructing a golden gate at the entry point, runway maintenance, radar antenna maintenance, sterile hall construction, billboards in different places and helicopter apron construction among other projects are on in full swing to enhance TIA’s capacity.
The internal budget of CAAN will also be utilized for painting the building and improvement and cleaning of a restroom. All this immediate internal work will be completed before the NTY-2011 starts. The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation has directed that the work be done at the earliest.
The country has targeted to bring 700,000 tourists by air during the campaign. The new international airlines connecting Nepal have created both opportunities and challenges for TIA. Currently, there are 28 international airlines operating in Nepal. According to the Tourism Ministry, international airlines in Nepal are estimated to reach over 32 soon.
In 2009, the TIA processed over 2 million (incoming and outgoing passengers). However, with the campaign target to bring over 700,000 tourists by air TIA should handle additional 1.4 million inbound and outbound passengers’ movement.
TIA general manager Dinesh Shrestha said that the golden gate construction, laying marble slabs on the ground surface of the terminal and helicoptor parking areas are in the final stage. TIA has called a tender for gardening and welding of walls. “The remaining work will be accomplished soon,” he said.
NTB board to meet after 14-month gap
SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, OCT 09 -
The board of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) is finally meeting on Sunday after a 14-month-long delay caused by a dispute over the appointment of board members by the government.
The NTB’s board meeting is required to be held every two months.
The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation decided to call the board meeting as the delay was affecting NTB’s
programmes and the Nepal Tourism Year 2011 campaign.
The board, chaired by the tourism secretary, has 11 members consisting of five government representatives, five private sector representatives and the chief executive officer of the NTB.
The meeting stalled when the present government appointed five members from the private sector replacing those who had been appointed by the previous Maoist-led government. The Maoist-led government had appointed Prasiddha Bahadur Pandey, Rajan Sakya, Ganesh Prasad Simkhada, Agni Prasad Kandel and Nimi Sherpa as board members.
Three of the five board members who had been bumped moved the Supreme Court challenging the government decision as their three-year tenure had not expired. The other two tendered their resignation which was approved by the board.
The NTB is now holding the board meeting after asking the three members who’ve gone to court to sit on the board meeting. Tourism secretary and chairman of the board Kishore Thapa said that they had to do it as the delay had paralysed the NTB when NTY 2011 was approaching.
“Although the NTB is conducting its programmes and meeting its expenses through an advance budget, the delay in holding the board meeting can affect its programmes,” said an official of the Tourism Ministry.
NTB spokesman Aditya Baral said that the government’s move to call the board meeting in a bid to resolve the problem was a positive one. Established to promote Nepali tourism, the NTB has been a victim of politicization with every successive government replacing the board members with its own people. “Although the NTB is an autonomous body, political interference has been paralyzing its importance,” said a senior NTB official.
“We are not against the board or any activities that the board is conducting to promote tourism, but if there seems to be any sign of the budget being misused, we won’t let it be approved,” said Simkhada who is attending the board meeting.
Simkhada added that the annual budget should be disclosed to the media also, and that misuse of the budget by ministers and sending representatives of political parties on foreign junkets under the media expenses head should be stopped.
KATHMANDU, OCT 09 -
The board of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) is finally meeting on Sunday after a 14-month-long delay caused by a dispute over the appointment of board members by the government.
The NTB’s board meeting is required to be held every two months.
The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation decided to call the board meeting as the delay was affecting NTB’s
programmes and the Nepal Tourism Year 2011 campaign.
The board, chaired by the tourism secretary, has 11 members consisting of five government representatives, five private sector representatives and the chief executive officer of the NTB.
The meeting stalled when the present government appointed five members from the private sector replacing those who had been appointed by the previous Maoist-led government. The Maoist-led government had appointed Prasiddha Bahadur Pandey, Rajan Sakya, Ganesh Prasad Simkhada, Agni Prasad Kandel and Nimi Sherpa as board members.
Three of the five board members who had been bumped moved the Supreme Court challenging the government decision as their three-year tenure had not expired. The other two tendered their resignation which was approved by the board.
The NTB is now holding the board meeting after asking the three members who’ve gone to court to sit on the board meeting. Tourism secretary and chairman of the board Kishore Thapa said that they had to do it as the delay had paralysed the NTB when NTY 2011 was approaching.
“Although the NTB is conducting its programmes and meeting its expenses through an advance budget, the delay in holding the board meeting can affect its programmes,” said an official of the Tourism Ministry.
NTB spokesman Aditya Baral said that the government’s move to call the board meeting in a bid to resolve the problem was a positive one. Established to promote Nepali tourism, the NTB has been a victim of politicization with every successive government replacing the board members with its own people. “Although the NTB is an autonomous body, political interference has been paralyzing its importance,” said a senior NTB official.
“We are not against the board or any activities that the board is conducting to promote tourism, but if there seems to be any sign of the budget being misused, we won’t let it be approved,” said Simkhada who is attending the board meeting.
Simkhada added that the annual budget should be disclosed to the media also, and that misuse of the budget by ministers and sending representatives of political parties on foreign junkets under the media expenses head should be stopped.
Hotels, but hardly any room
Hotels are packed as the tourist season gets underway in the merry month of October.
SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, OCT 23 -
It’s boom time for the country’s star hotels. With the autumn tourist season in full swing, five-star hotels are enjoying robust business. Hoteliers say their business has grown by over 30 percent this month compared to the same period last year.
October and November are the prime tourist season in Nepal that accounts about 30 percent of the total tourist arrivals. According to the data of the Immigration Office at Tribhuvan International Airport, over 2,000 tourists have been arriving daily since the beginning of October. On Oct. 21, 2,339 tourists landed at TIA. The number was the highest on Oct. 16 when the country received 2,710 tourists by air.
The tourist arrival statistics show that there would be more tourists this October and November. Till Oct. 21, 42,428 tourists had arrived in Nepal by air. There were 56,009 tourists recorded in October while the arrival figure in November was 39,784 last year.
The encouraging volume of arrivals has boosted the hotel business on the one hand while there have been problems with accommodation due to a shortage of rooms in the five-star hotels, hoteliers said. Most of the five-star hotels in the capital are sold out for October while they have over 80 percent bookings for November.
Amir K. Pradhananga, director of sales at the Everest Hotel, said that business surged by 35 percent until the third quarter of October compared to the same month last year. The rooms at the Everest Hotel have been sold out for this month while the November booking status has crossed 90 percent. “Asian, Japanese and European tourists are the major customers coming to the hotel,” said Pradhananga.
Similarly, the Yak & Yeti is booked solid till Oct. 31. The hotel has 85 percent bookings for November. “Our business grew by 20 percent this season compared to the same month last year,” said Bharat Joshi, sales and marketing director.
Joshi added that the hotel had been receiving high-end tourists who are here for leisure and trekking. The Yak & Yeti’s guests include 30 percent French, 15 percent American, 10 percent British and 5-7 percent Belgium citizens. The Shangri-La Hotel also has no vacancies this month. Bookings for November amount to about 96 percent. “We have been receiving a number of requests from visitors for rooms as all the major star hotels are occupied,” said Raju Bikram Shah, general manager of the Shangri-La hotel.
Although the Shangri-La is doing good business, growth for this month has been the same as last year. “We have had consistent business since 2007,” Shah said.
However, the number of Indian tourists coming for conferences has slightly decreased at the major five-star hotels, which the hoteliers said was due to the festive season in India. “Tourists basically arrive here for leisure and trekking in October, which can be the reason why the number of visitors coming for conferences is lean,” said Sony Chaudhary, assistant marketing and PR manager at the Soaltee Crowne Plaza. The Soaltee Crowne Plaza witnessed a growth of 20 percent in business compared to the same period last year. The hotel’s guest list mostly consists of American, European and Indian visitors.
According to the Immigration Office, TIA, arrivals till Oct. 21 consisted of 4,782 travellers from India, 3,883 from the UK, 3,833 from Germany, 3,662 from the US and 3,687 from France.
SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, OCT 23 -
It’s boom time for the country’s star hotels. With the autumn tourist season in full swing, five-star hotels are enjoying robust business. Hoteliers say their business has grown by over 30 percent this month compared to the same period last year.
October and November are the prime tourist season in Nepal that accounts about 30 percent of the total tourist arrivals. According to the data of the Immigration Office at Tribhuvan International Airport, over 2,000 tourists have been arriving daily since the beginning of October. On Oct. 21, 2,339 tourists landed at TIA. The number was the highest on Oct. 16 when the country received 2,710 tourists by air.
The tourist arrival statistics show that there would be more tourists this October and November. Till Oct. 21, 42,428 tourists had arrived in Nepal by air. There were 56,009 tourists recorded in October while the arrival figure in November was 39,784 last year.
The encouraging volume of arrivals has boosted the hotel business on the one hand while there have been problems with accommodation due to a shortage of rooms in the five-star hotels, hoteliers said. Most of the five-star hotels in the capital are sold out for October while they have over 80 percent bookings for November.
Amir K. Pradhananga, director of sales at the Everest Hotel, said that business surged by 35 percent until the third quarter of October compared to the same month last year. The rooms at the Everest Hotel have been sold out for this month while the November booking status has crossed 90 percent. “Asian, Japanese and European tourists are the major customers coming to the hotel,” said Pradhananga.
Similarly, the Yak & Yeti is booked solid till Oct. 31. The hotel has 85 percent bookings for November. “Our business grew by 20 percent this season compared to the same month last year,” said Bharat Joshi, sales and marketing director.
Joshi added that the hotel had been receiving high-end tourists who are here for leisure and trekking. The Yak & Yeti’s guests include 30 percent French, 15 percent American, 10 percent British and 5-7 percent Belgium citizens. The Shangri-La Hotel also has no vacancies this month. Bookings for November amount to about 96 percent. “We have been receiving a number of requests from visitors for rooms as all the major star hotels are occupied,” said Raju Bikram Shah, general manager of the Shangri-La hotel.
Although the Shangri-La is doing good business, growth for this month has been the same as last year. “We have had consistent business since 2007,” Shah said.
However, the number of Indian tourists coming for conferences has slightly decreased at the major five-star hotels, which the hoteliers said was due to the festive season in India. “Tourists basically arrive here for leisure and trekking in October, which can be the reason why the number of visitors coming for conferences is lean,” said Sony Chaudhary, assistant marketing and PR manager at the Soaltee Crowne Plaza. The Soaltee Crowne Plaza witnessed a growth of 20 percent in business compared to the same period last year. The hotel’s guest list mostly consists of American, European and Indian visitors.
According to the Immigration Office, TIA, arrivals till Oct. 21 consisted of 4,782 travellers from India, 3,883 from the UK, 3,833 from Germany, 3,662 from the US and 3,687 from France.
No Korea job bar for HIV-hit
SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, OCT 22 -
Potential migrant workers afflicted with HIV/AIDS will not be barred from working in South Korea. The government has withdrawn the HIV/AIDS test provision from its medical test list, which was mandatory for migrant workers to obtain working permits after passing the Korean Language Test (KLT).
The government has decided to allow migrant workers infected with HIV/AIDS to work under the Employment Permit System (EPS) as per the international human rights instrument on HIV/AIDS and the world of work.
The migrant workers had to pass the medical test to get work permits after they passed the EPS exam. Under the medical testing system, aspirant migrant workers had to clear medical tests for various transmissible diseases including HIV/AIDS.
Now onwards, even if any KLT-pass individual has HIV/AIDS, he will be allowed to work in Korea under EPS, said Mohan Krishna Sapkota, director general of the Department of Foreign Employment.
The decision of the government came after the United Nations appealed that the adverse policies of the government in different countries were discriminating against infected people and their working rights. The UN paper released in August 2009 at the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and Pacific (ICAAP) says that the International Labour Organization is in the process of formulating an international human rights instrument on HIV/AIDS and the world of work.
“If adopted in 2010, this standard focusing solely on HIV and the world of work will give new impetus to anti-discrimination policies for migrant workers in different countries,” the paper says.
Korea, which has been one of the major labour destinations for Nepali workers in terms of financial returns and safety, has recognised Nepal as the best labour supplying country for its shortest processing period and good performance of Nepali workers.
The government of Nepal started sending workers to South Korea from 2008 under the EPS. This year, Korea has fixed a 4,000 quota for Nepali migrant workers under which the government is conducting medical tests on 4,180 who have passed the EPS.
In March 2008, when the government had conducted Korean language test for the first time, 6,768 applicants, out of 32,000, had passed the test. Of them, 6,586 were listed on the job roster and 6,400 workers had signed job contracts with Korean firms. So far, over 6,000 Nepali workers have left the country to work in Korea’s agriculture, fishery, and construction, manufacturing and service sectors.
Due to Nepal’s good track record in sending workers on time and supplying qualified labor under EPS scheme, the government had asked the Korean government to increase the quota for 2010.
“Nepalis selected for foreign employment under the EPS can earn an average of Rs. 100,000 a month,” said Sapkota. Nepal and Korea had signed a labour agreement on July 23, 2007 to send Nepali workers through the EPS. The system allows employers to hire foreign workers to meet their workforce requirement.
KATHMANDU, OCT 22 -
Potential migrant workers afflicted with HIV/AIDS will not be barred from working in South Korea. The government has withdrawn the HIV/AIDS test provision from its medical test list, which was mandatory for migrant workers to obtain working permits after passing the Korean Language Test (KLT).
The government has decided to allow migrant workers infected with HIV/AIDS to work under the Employment Permit System (EPS) as per the international human rights instrument on HIV/AIDS and the world of work.
The migrant workers had to pass the medical test to get work permits after they passed the EPS exam. Under the medical testing system, aspirant migrant workers had to clear medical tests for various transmissible diseases including HIV/AIDS.
Now onwards, even if any KLT-pass individual has HIV/AIDS, he will be allowed to work in Korea under EPS, said Mohan Krishna Sapkota, director general of the Department of Foreign Employment.
The decision of the government came after the United Nations appealed that the adverse policies of the government in different countries were discriminating against infected people and their working rights. The UN paper released in August 2009 at the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and Pacific (ICAAP) says that the International Labour Organization is in the process of formulating an international human rights instrument on HIV/AIDS and the world of work.
“If adopted in 2010, this standard focusing solely on HIV and the world of work will give new impetus to anti-discrimination policies for migrant workers in different countries,” the paper says.
Korea, which has been one of the major labour destinations for Nepali workers in terms of financial returns and safety, has recognised Nepal as the best labour supplying country for its shortest processing period and good performance of Nepali workers.
The government of Nepal started sending workers to South Korea from 2008 under the EPS. This year, Korea has fixed a 4,000 quota for Nepali migrant workers under which the government is conducting medical tests on 4,180 who have passed the EPS.
In March 2008, when the government had conducted Korean language test for the first time, 6,768 applicants, out of 32,000, had passed the test. Of them, 6,586 were listed on the job roster and 6,400 workers had signed job contracts with Korean firms. So far, over 6,000 Nepali workers have left the country to work in Korea’s agriculture, fishery, and construction, manufacturing and service sectors.
Due to Nepal’s good track record in sending workers on time and supplying qualified labor under EPS scheme, the government had asked the Korean government to increase the quota for 2010.
“Nepalis selected for foreign employment under the EPS can earn an average of Rs. 100,000 a month,” said Sapkota. Nepal and Korea had signed a labour agreement on July 23, 2007 to send Nepali workers through the EPS. The system allows employers to hire foreign workers to meet their workforce requirement.
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