Kathmandu, The Tenth Annual General meeting of Export Council of Nepal (ECON) was held on January 12, 2007 at The Hotel Malla, Kathmandu, Nepal. Bijaya Nath Bhattrai, Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), inaugurated the formal session of the AGM.

Addressing the program Governor Bhattarai emphasized the need to bring the improvement in policy making in order to achieve economic advantage from the export trade. ‘As export is the one of the main sources of foreign currency earnings, our policy need to be favorable to support export trade of the country’, Bhattrai said. Highlighting the importance of Economic Diplomacy in boosting trade and commerce of the country, he urged the Nepal Government to issue directive the envoys working in the embassies for stressing the economic diplomacy. Likewise, Governor Bhattarai asked the government and the private sectors to come up with the long-term policy and programs to improve export trade of the country.

Bharat Bahadur Thapa, Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS) said that the government is ready to introduce new acts and policy in order to boost export trade of the country. Urging the private sectors and exporters, he requested them to come up with concrete plans in export. Thapa opined that the government is working to formulate export feasible policy appraising the present condition of export trade. Moreover, he also assured the exporters of the country that the government would always welcome them while making policy in order to make it constructive. He also made it clear that the government is ready to take constructive majors to solve the problems in export trade.

Narayan Prasad Shrestha, Officiating Executive Director of Trade and Export Promotion Centre said that the centre is established for the promotion of export trade of the country. Shrestha opined that the centre would carry out the initiatives to boost the export trade of the country. He requested the private sectors to assist the centre by providing the suggestions on how to promote export trade of the country.

Surendra Bir Malakar, President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce informed the activities carried out with a view to promote export trade of the country by the Chamber. He also mentioned that Chamber would support the ECON to promote export.

Earlier, welcoming all the distinguished guests and the participants of the AGM, Raju Shrestha President of ECON, mentioned the problems being faced by the exporters. President Shrestha highlighted the importance of export trade on national economy and requested the government and apex body of private sectors for cohesive efforts to enhance the export trade of the country. Likewise, he urged the government to immediately implement the provision of Export Promotion House promulgated by then government, which could be an instrumental to solve the problems in export trade. Shrestha also requested the government for not to impose Value Added Tax in export trade.

Meanwhile, Governor Bhattarai distributed Certificate and Token of Love to the top exporters among the ECON members in the Fiscal Year 2062/063. Dilli Tuladhar, Managing Director of One World (Nepal) Trading, Swoyambhu Ratna Tuladhar, Managing Director of Yak and Yeti Enterprises P. Ltd. and Kanhaiya Shah Managing Director of KL International received top exporter award. Likewise, Hari Bahadur Karki, Coordinator of Publication Sub Committee and Members of the Sub Committee Ram Sharan Thapalia and Raju Bania were awarded Certificate with Token of Love for performing as the best among the Sub Committees of ECON for the period of 2061-2063.

Also the top financial contributors to the Council Raju Shrestha of Aseatic Traders and Exporters, Hem Raj Dhakal of C.M. Trading Enterprises P. Ltd. and Yagya Narayan Gupta of Amrita Craft P. Ltd., Resham Bahadur Pokharel, Coordinator of Custom and Documentation Sub Committee, and Council's Administrative Officer Upendra Adhikari and Office Assistant Purna Bahadur Karki were awarded for their contribution in strengthening and developing ECON.

In the meantime, Governor Bijaya Nath Bhattarai, Secretary Bharat Bahadur Thapa, NCC President Surendra Bir Malakar, FNCCI representative Kiran Shakha, Officiating Executive Director of TEPC Narayan Prasad Shrestha were awarded with Token of Love for their contribution in export promotion and addressing the AGM of ECON.

Also DHL Express Nepal P. Ltd., Bank of Kathmandu Ltd., Everest Insurance Company Ltd., Hotel Marsyandi and BizMantra were awarded with Token of Love for supporting to ECON as the business/technical partner.

The new Executive Committee of the Council has been unanimously elected by the AGM on the chairmanship of Raju Shrestha. The formation of the Executive Committee is as follows.

S. N.	Name	Designation
1	Mr. Raju Shrestha	President
2	Mr. Yagya Narayan Gupta	Immediate Past President
3	Mr. Naresh Das	First Vice President
4	Mr. Arjun Kumar Bhattrai	Second Vice President
5	Mr. Hem Raj Dhakal	General Secretary
6	Mr. Babukaji Shrestha	Treasurer
7	Mr. Hari Bahadur Karki	Secretary
8	Mr. Kanhaiya Shah	Executive Member
9	Mr. Resham Bahadur Pokharel	Executive Member
10	Mr. Ram Sharan Thapaliya	Executive Member
11	Mr. Dilli Tuladhar	Executive Member
12	Mr. Surendra Kumar Shrestha	Nominated Executive Member
13	Mr. Dilli Raj Silwal	Nominated Executive Member