By S K SARDA*

Trade volume at Nathu la pass in the last two weeks ending on 31.August 2006 is on the rise. More items have been included in the basket of trade by the traders.  More traders are joining this border trade business. Around Rs.2 lacs worth Non Basmati rice was exported to TAR by the Indian Traders in the last two weeks.

For the first time cigarettes, Blankets, Copper Products,  Dry Fruit,  Snuff, Cigarettes,  Canned Food,  Spices,  pickles,  have been taken by the Indian traders to Rinchingang,17 Kms down Nathula in Chumbi valley and sold like hot cake fetching good
returns to the traders. The first 15 blankets taken by an Indian Trader got sold the moment he landed at Rinchingang market.

One young trader collects good Busty rice from the villages in Sikkim , cleans it and packs it in  kilo packs and  puts up for sale at the Mart in TAR and is getting very good response. Traders from Padamchen and Chhangu Lake are showing keen interest in the trade. There is great rush to buy  imported CHAMPA- roasted barley priced at Rs.250/- for 5 KG pack at the Sherathang Mart. It is liked by the local people for its excellent taste and flavor.

Chatting Up, On The Net

Sikkimese traders have also started chatting on internet with their counterparts in Tibet and young traders are building up relationship with an eye on the long term benefits. This week more than twenty traders from Benaras,Guwahati, Kolkata met me to understand the Nathu la trade. They have met local traders to explore the possibilities of businesses.

One gentleman was keen to set up a silk processing unit to manufacture Vanarsi silk sarees in Sikkim.  Meanwhile National Insurance Co Ltd is planning to organize one day session on the subject- Insurance & Nathu la in this month at Gangtok in cooperation with Sikkim Chamber of Commerce.

The next week will see more traders from the Indian Side experimenting the trade thru Nathu la pass. A massive road construction activity is going from Nathu la down to Yatung in the Chumbi Valley. Due to the movement of heavy trucks and their
loading/unloading operations of construction materials, the road has become sluggish and driving on the road has become very risky. We are thankful to the Indian traders who are working in such a difficult terrain which of course is temporary.

Road Widening Under Way 

The Chinese side is trying their best to complete the road construction upto Nathu la before December this year. It will be a two way lane and will be able to take load of heavy goods traffic. But the sale of dollars $ from State Bank of India, Sherathng & Gangtok branch is still negligible. This is a reflection that the import from Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) has not improved till now. Once the import list is widened which is very much likely to be announced by the Udyog Bhawan at New Delhi shortly, the import figure will also start rising and the foreign exchange counter at Sherathang will also buzz with activity.

Meanwhile, the local branch of State bank of India has clarified that it can issue Dollar ($) upto 10,000 for trade purposes and their Sherathang branch is ready to cope with the demand. The Indian side too is planning to start the widening of the road from November this year. The Border Road organization (BRO) will supervise construction from Nathula to Gangtok and NHAI (National Highway Authority of India) will construct the stretch of road from from Gangtok to Siliguri.

It is worth mentioning here that 50% of the export from India through mainland consists of iron ore. The Chinese commerce ministry is also toying with the idea of bringing iron ore from India via Nathu La land custom station to meet the requirements of Tibet region and South West China.

Learning About Trade

Shri Kamal Nath, Union Commerce & Industry Minister has recently laid foundation for the campus of Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) at Salt lake, Kolkata. The Kolkata campus is likely to be operational from July 2009. This Kolkata Centre - the first regional centre of the IIFT - will fill the gap of a premier institute offering courses in international business management and trade in this part of the country catering to West Bengal, North Eastern States & Sikkim.

The Nathu La traders/ entrepreneurs will also be benefited in a big way once this Institute becomes operational. They will be able to get training on import-export procedure, market survey reports, skill development for identifying the opportunities and
emerging a winner in import/export business. A lot of good things are happening. We must take benefit from them.

On the Chinese side, they are busy upgrading their infrastructure. Nyingchi Airport, the third civil airport in southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, was inaugurated  when a Boeing 757 plane landed on 1.Sept 2006. The plane left Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, Tibet’s neighbor to the east, at 7:30 a.m. and arrived at Nyingchi Airport an hour and a half later.

Better Air Links To Tibet 

Nyingchi Airport, the third civilian airport in Tibet after Lhasa and Qamdo, has a 3,000-meter-long runway. Located in Nyingchi Prefecture, 400 kilometers from Lhasa, it was built at a cost of 780 million yuan (about 96.18 million U.S. dollars). Most of the funds
were invested by China’s General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC).

Furthur, A Shanghai-Lhasa direct train service is expected to open during this year’s National Day holiday. The new trains will be equipped with an advanced
oxygen supply system, to help prevent passengers’ altitude sickness while traveling through the high-altitude area. The whole train trip between the two cities is expected to take 52 hours.

The first Qinghai-Tibet train pulled into the Lhasa Railway Station in early July of this year. Until now, people who choose to go to Tibet by train have to start their trip from Beijing, Xining, Lanzhou, Chengdu, or Chongqing, or from the other cities along
the railway line.

The East Himalayan Expo

Meanwhile,  India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO), a Government of India Organization which manages Exhibitions at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi has announced that they will be organizing East Himalayan Expo exhibition    at    Gangtok during October 24-28, 2006. This is an unique & focused endeavor by ITPO to provide an exclusive platform to Sikkim for opening up of new vistas in the area of trade and commerce &
industry and also to showcase the vast potential inherent in export from this part of the country. 

ITPO would also strive to get participation from rest of the country particularly in sectors which are relevant to Sikkim from the point of industrial and economic development of the state. The presence of such exhibitors would strengthen the opportunity of
technology transfer and up gradation of know how relating to packaging, product design, marketing and so on. The exhibition is taking place keeping in the mind the opportunities that is coming up due to opening of Nathu la pass.

The show will cover Agricultural machineries, Hotel related equipments, Poultry & animal husbandry development equipments, Machineries for making confectioneries, Diary products equipments packing machineries & materials  goods, & road construction machineries. Dignitaries who have visited NATHU LA  recently include His Excellency Mr Michael Arthur, British High Commissioner to India ,who was in Gangtok on a two day  official visit to Sikkim along with Mr Simon Wilson, British Deputy High Commissioner to eastern India. He visited Nathu la on 2 Sept 2006.

(S K Sarda is President of Sikkim Chamber of
Commerce)