Nepal has a few years to go before the garment export quotas to the United States expire and exporters could do better with a better transportation infrastructure and without frequent general strikes. Garments exports in the rayon/cotton dress categories averaged only about 80 percent of the total quota allocated to Nepal. Top sellers were men's and ladies' shirts and trousers, according to the Garment Association of Nepal. Canada is the next biggest importer of Nepali readymade garments.

Last year, Nepal's garment exports to the US totalled Rs 12 billion. It sold an additional Rs 7 billion worth of garments to Canada. Nepal has also begun exporting readymade garments to European Union markets. "We have just four years to make the most of the quotas because they will go after the WTO takes effect," an exporter says. "But in some categories we're barely exporting 50 percent of the volume allowed." Nepal's garment industry imports all raw materials, which make its exports more expensive than those from competing nations like Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.