Economic diplomacy takes a back seat as diplomats fail to push it
Amid rising imports, falling remittances and ballooning balance of payment deficit, many say a crisis could be just around the corner. Experts and analysts say the problem with Nepal’s economy is that the country imports a lot compared to what it exports because it doesn’t produce competitive products.
What Nepal needs is maximum foreign direct investment, aid and assistance in various sectors, but the country has failed to pursue economic diplomacy, according to experts.
“When a country’s foreign policy suffers, naturally, the economic diplomacy also suffers because they are correlated,” said Bishwambher Pyakuryal, an economist who served as Nepal’s ambassador to Sri Lanka from April 2017 to July 2019.
Economic diplomacy is considered a key vehicle for promotion of tourism, injecting foreign aid and investment and for trade promotion, among others, and when a new Nepali ambassador takes his or her assignment, they are…
