Part II: Export Potential to Nepal
Transportation Logistics
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One of Nepal’s challenges that affect economic growth is the fact that the country is landlocked and mountainous, meaning that building good roads can be challenging and Nepal doesn’t have its own port for the easy trading of goods (Dvwrod et al., 2015). Mountain Equipment Co-op is based out of Vancouver, the largest ocean transport hub in Canada (Port of Vancouver, 2016). The method of transportation I am recommending for my product is by ship from Vancouver to Hong Kong, then Singapore, and then finally arriving in Kolkata, India. From there, the products will be transported by truck up to Nepal and will be delivered to a start-up Nepalese company where the three items will be assembled into “Honey Hunter Kits”.
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Before exporting Canadian products, it is important to submit an export declaration to the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA, 2016). In this case, the form would be called an NDR2, which is for non-restricted commercial goods with a value of less than $2,000 CDN (CBSA, 2015). For further information, the Canadian Trade Commissioner Services will assist you in exporting your goods, whether it be by getting you in contact with potential importers abroad, helping you create and implement an export strategy, or simply by offering relevant advice (Port of Vancouver, 2016).
Trade Deficit
As one of the most underdeveloped countries in the world, Nepal has a wide trade deficit and continually imports far more goods and services than they export, each year (Dvwrod et al., 2015). Though Nepal borders on two of the world’s most giant economies, more than half of the population lives under the poverty line and the rate of economic growth is low when compared to China or India (Dvwrod et al., 2015). The goal with importing rock climbing equipment is to increase wild honey yield, improve upon current honey hunting methods to promote honey bee health, to appeal more to tourists and potential researchers and to gather information on the A. dorsata laboriosa species to better understand and educate their importance in the ecosystem. The potential of this import of Canadian goods to Nepal is to create a opportunity where international imports lead to domestic economical growth (Dvwrod et al., 2015). By importing this one group of niche products, Nepal will increase its export potential and income in three sectors: agricultural products, tourism, and education.
Recommendations
It is unlikely that there will be much export potential for MEC rock climbing equipment to Nepal since it would be much more affordable to get the same products from China. However, the suggestions for possible uses and benefits in the agricultural, tourism and research industries remains the same. It would also be worth looking into what it would cost to start up a honey bee colony in Nepal and whether that would be a more cost efficient, and not to mention safer, approach to increasing honey yield. There were also some costs that I was unable to find like the cost for shipping, the cost of trucking from Kolkata to Kathmandu, import taxes, and any additional transportation duty fees.
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