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KATHMANDU, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Nepal has proposed the date for holding the bilateral meeting with China on finalizing the protocol of the Transit Transport Agreement (TTA) for Nov. 6-8, a senior Nepalese government official said.
During visit of former Nepalese Prime Minister K.P Sharma Oli to China last March, the two nations had signed the agreement which will pave the way for either country to use each other's territory for third country trade.
However, the TTA is just a framework and is incomplete without the protocol. The protocol to the TTA will include details about customs arrangements, mode of transport, types of cargo and operational modality.
Nepal's third country trade is presently conducted only through Indian territory. The TTA with China allows the Himalayan country to transport its imports and exports via its neighbour's territory.
Rabi Sainju, joint secretary at the Nepal's Commerce Ministry, who also heads protocol preparation team of Nepal government, told Xinhua on Saturday that they proposed the date for holding the meeting on protocol.
"The Chinese side has said they would respond within a few days on the proposed date," he said. After the signing of TTA, it will be the first bilateral meeting regarding the development of protocol to the agreement.
Sainju said that while signing the protocol, Nepal wanted to use transit facility through 4-5 border points between two countries to reach the China's 2-3 sea ports for conducting trade with third countries.
"We have not specifically mentioned border points and sea ports that we want to use in the draft of protocol we have sent to the Chinese side," he said. "It will be concluded based on discussion between the two sides."
Nepalese experts say that an efficient transport network and simplified paperwork and information system will be essential to make practical use of the transit facility.
Nepal has signed transit agreement with India and Bangladesh, but has been able to use transit facility provided by India only so far.
