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Trade Act and Policy	Export	Imports
Products, Exporters and Importers	Trade Statistics	Trade & Transit Agreement

Nepal's merchandise trade balance has improved somewhat in recent years with the growth of the carpet and garment industries. In FY 2000-01 exports posted a greater increase (14%) than imports (4.5%), helping bring the trade deficit down by 4% from the previous year to $749 million. Trade with India rose rapidly after conclusion of the 1996 bilateral trade treaty between the two countries, and now accounts for 43% of all exports. Indian efforts to revise the treaty, which comes up for a 5-year review in December 2001, could dampen Nepal's export growth. The annual monsoon rain, or lack of it, strongly influences economic growth. From 1996 to 1999, real GDP growth averaged less than 4%. The growth rate recovered in 1999, rising to 6% before slipping slightly in 2001 to 5.5%.

Strong export performance, including earnings from tourism, and external aid have helped improve the overall balance-of-payments situation and increase international reserves. Nepal receives substantial amounts of external assistance from India, the People's Republic of China, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Germany, and the Scandinavian countries. Several multilateral organizations, such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the UN Development Program also provide assistance. In June 1998, Nepal submitted its memorandum on a foreign trade regime to the World Trade Organization and in May 2000 began direct negotiations on its accession.

Foreign Trade Composition Of Nepal F. Y. 2001/02 TO 2003/04
Value in '000 Rs.
Direction	F. Y. 2001/02	% in	F. Y. 2002/03	% in	F. Y. 2003/04*	% in
	2058/59	Total	2059/60	Total	2060/61	Total
Exports
India	27,956,200	59.0	26,430,000	52.8	31,244,300	57.4

Overseas	18,409,236	38.8	21,981,475	44.0	20,941,661	38.5

Tibet	1,021,352	2.2	1,599,647	3.2	2,230,653	4.1

Total	47,386,788	100.0	50,011,122	100.0	54,416,614	100.0
Imports
India	56,622,100	52.1	70,924,200	55.3	81,651,900	58.8

Overseas	47,584,045	43.8	52,965,298	41.3	53,234,748	38.4

Tibet	4,428,656	4.1	4,338,636	3.4	3,866,087	2.8

Total	108,634,801	100.0	128,228,134	100.0	138,752,735	100.0
Trade Deficit
India	28,665,900		44,494,200		50,407,600

Overseas	29,174,809		30,983,823		32,293,087

Tibet	3,407,304		2,738,989		1,635,434

Total	61,248,013		78,217,012		84,336,121
Note :- Trade with India for the F. Y. 2001/02 and 2002/03 are revised.
* Provisional
Trade data with Tibet, Autonomous Region of China have been recorded through Tatopani Customs only.
Source:- Trade Promotion Centre & Nepal Rastra Bank.

Percentage Composition Of Regions In The Total Overseas Exports Of Nepal F. Y. 2001/02 TO 2003/04
Value in '000 Rs.
Regions	F. Y. 2001/02		F. Y. 2002/03		F. Y. 2003/04
	Value	%	Value	%	Value	%

Asia (Excluding India)	1,351,532	7.34	1,494,866	6.80	1,898,725	9.07

Africa	10,893	0.06	10,368	0.05	477,927	2.28

America	9,725,305	52.83	13,099,721	59.60	10,274,063	49.06

European Union	6,789,794	36.88	6,874,411	31.27	7,540,693	36.01

Europe (Excluding European Union)	457,169	2.48	402,453	1.83	638,827	3.05

Oceania	74,543	0.41	99,656	0.45	111,426	0.53


Total	18,409,236	100.00	21,981,475	100.00	20,941,661	100.00

Balance Of Trade With Individual Countries F. Y. 2003/04
S. N.	Countries	Exports Value (Rs.)	Import Value (Rs.)	Balance (Rs.)
	Grand Total	20,941,661,111	53,234,748,492	-32,293,087,381

	Asia	1,898,724,533	38,384,803,589	-36,486,079,056

1	Bangladesh	421,307,515	671,162,248	-249,854,733
2	Bhutan	77,704,865	21,647,271	56,057,594
3	Brunei	323,879	81,960,204	-81,636,325
4	Burma	-	11,436,286	-11,436,286
5	Bahrain	589,784	2,954,010	-2,364,226
6	China P. R.	117,497,167	5,433,814,913	-5,316,317,746
7	Hong Kong	77,023,784	1,641,570,924	-1,564,547,140
8	Indonesia	504,471	3,253,784,989	-3,253,280,518
9	Iran	2,846,562	61,568,020	-58,721,458
10	Iraq	10,500	-	10,500
11	Israel	3,175,682	483,695,044	-480,519,362
12	Japan	525,600,880	1,690,396,181	-1,164,795,301
13	Jordan	-	7,295,087	-7,295,087
14	Korea R	61,728,044	3,080,643,933	-3,018,915,889
15	Kuwait	3,181,002	18,791,369	-15,610,367
16	Lebanon	1,559,302	-	1,559,302
17	Malaysia	8,325,878	3,676,428,424	-3,668,102,546
18	Mongolia	180,425	15,776,824	-15,596,399
19	Maldives	125,125	39,516	85,609
20	Oman	1,073,226	39,389,293	-38,316,067
21	Pakistan	277,839,922	191,415,486	86,424,436
22	Philippines	1,808,041	376,096,999	-374,288,958
23	Qatar	621,397	162,000,896	-161,379,499
24	Saudi Arabia	517,616	2,547,900,875	-2,547,383,259
25	Singapore	57,330,883	8,698,646,573	-8,641,315,690
26	Sri Lanka	504,700	139,721,821	-139,217,121
27	Taiwan	50,967,304	1,175,139,989	-1,124,172,685
28	Thailand	102,467,120	4,320,169,479	-4,217,702,359
29	U. A. E.	81,296,812	407,933,164	-326,636,352
30	Yemen	59,200	4,501,064	-4,441,864
31	Armenia	3,742	3,000	742
32	Vietnam	5,534,313	134,156,634	-128,622,321
33	Cambodia	406,175	201,850	204,325
34	Laos	-	272,768	-272,768
35	Korea D. P. R	-	1,358,059	-1,358,059
36	Turkmenistan	1,671,069	-	1,671,069
37	Afghanistan	14,938,148	83,756	14,854,392
38	Uzbekistan	-	32,846,640	-32,846,640

	Africa	477,927,299	352,605,112	125,322,187

1	Egypt	186,834	5,719,174	-5,532,340
2	Kenya	1,333,506	1,668,089	-334,583
3	Mauritius	486,163	969,251	-483,088
4	South Africa	16,355,310	321,810,027