Ahead of the festive season in Nepal, businesses have been badly hit by China’s arbitrary closure of borders and imposition of lockdowns in several cities following a surge in Covid-19 cases.
Trucks containing goods worth billions of rupees imported goods remain stranded at the checkpoints for two weeks as worried Nepali traders are likely to miss out on the Dashain shopping season for the third consecutive year, The Kathmandu Post reported.
Beijing closed the Tatopani and Rasuwagadhi border points this month just as Nepali Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka undertook a visit to China, according to the Nepali newspaper.
Beijing closed the northern border due to the Covid scare weeks after it agreed to open it for two-way trade.
Ashok Kumar Shrestha, president of the Nepal Trans Himalayan Border Commerce Association told the Post if the lockdown imposed in Shigatse and Lhasa is prolonged, it will be a debilitating situation for traders. “The closure ahead of the festival season will sink billions in investments by Nepali traders.”
“We recently held a meeting with our Chinese counterpart regarding the closure of the border points. They said that unless the lockdown in Shigatse is lifted, the border will not open,” said Narayan Prasad Regmi, joint secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.
With Dashain nearly a month away, traders said it will take two months to reroute the consignments.
Amid the uncertainty surrounding the border reopening, Nepali traders stand to lose heavily if their goods arrive after the festival. In a bid to avoid delays and losses, several importers are rerouting their inbound cargo through the southern border points.
Nepali officials are unaware of how many containers have been stranded on the Chinese side of the border as they were not informed about the border closure.
“We have not been officially informed about the numbers of containers halted on the other side of the border,” said Narad Gautam, chief customs officer of the Tatopani Customs Office in Sindhupalchok. “Before the border closure, eight to ten containers were arriving daily through the Tatopani point. We only have heard that a few cities in China are under lockdowns,” Gautam was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post.
On Sunday, the Federation of Nepal National Business, in a press statement, requested the government to do the needful through diplomatic negotiations to open the trade route as soon as possible.
“This is an unofficial border closure by the Chinese side ahead of Nepalis’ major festivals,” said Naresh Katuwal, immediate past president of the Federation of Nepal National Business. “The border closure problem has been recurring for the past several years. Closing the borders all the time under the pretext of Covid is not a solution.”
Katuwal said the border can be opened following strict safety measures, adding that shutting the border completely harms everyone.