The eastern town of Dhulabari of Jhapa district, which until 10 years ago was a thriving market for foreign goods especially among Indian customers, looks deserted. With India opening its market to international trade and investment, its towns and cities are flooded with Chinese goods at much cheaper prices than in Nepal. Dhulabari’s local economy, which was heavily reliant on imports, is now bleeding dry with the dearth of Indian shoppers.
In the last decade most businessmen from Dhulabari, who traded in Chinese products, moved to the other side of the border to Siliguri and now have shops at Golden Plaza and Shanker Market. “What’s the point of staying if there is no business?” asks Sadhuram Agrawal, a Nepali who was forced to shift bases.
Since the duty on Chinese electronic products for India is lower compared to us, it has also led to an increase in the smuggling of such goods from India into Nepal. Local businessmen blame the Nepali government for failing to implement investment friendly policies and for its misplaced economic priorities.
Keshavraj Pandey of Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry says, “More than 25 per cent of all trade and investment has left Dhulabari and if the state doesn’t introduce sound policies now, most of the town’s income will flow to India.”
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