The Nepal Freight Forwarders Association (NEFFA) recently held its 8th annual general meeting in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, which was attended by Prithibi Subba Gurung, Minister for Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation and other dignitaries.
In his welcome speech, NEFFA president, Namgyal Lama made several recommendations to improve cargo operations in Nepal, including an upgrading of the cargo terminal at Kathmandu Airport to meet international standards of cargo operation, while he also stressed that "the government should hand over the air cargo building to the freight forwarders and allow operation on a revenue sharing basis".
In his speech, Lama also highlighted the problems faced by the cargo community in terms of exports, imports, tourism and other potential sectors.
Chandiraj Dhakal, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Surendra Bir Malakar, president of the Nepal Chamber of Commerce delivered their keynote speeches in which they respectively highlighted the role of the freight forwarders in international trade and the present challenges of the private sector. They also stated that NEFFA had created a special place of recognition among Nepal’s commodity associations.
In his address to the delegates, Civil Aviation minister Prithibi Subba Gurung assured full co-operation with the Nepalese freight forwarders.
"Freight forwarders play a very important role in keeping the wheels of trade moving smoothly," he said, adding that he appreciated the demand of further infrastructure improvements of the air cargo terminal at Trubhuvan International Airport and he assured he would comply with the demands of the NEFFApresident.