KATHMANDU, March 27 (Xinhua) -- A day after the Nepal formally reopened the international border points with China for the movement of goods, Nepal's bordering customs offices are preparing to get shipments of goods coming from China, officials of the concerned customs officers said.
As per the decision of the High Level Coordination Committee headed by Nepali Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ishwar Pokharel to combat COVID-19 on Wednesday, two major international border points -- Rasuwgadhi-Kerung (Geelong) and Tatopani-Zhangmu -- were opened since Thursday.
Nepali government said that the move was taken not to let the Himalayan country to see a shortage of essential goods including medical equipments as the Himalayan country has imposed a week-long lockdown of the country since Tuesday amid the COVOD-19 threat.
"After the border was reopened, we are preparing to get COVID-19 test kits delivered by Nepali embassy in Beijing as the first consignment after the border reopening," Lal Bahadur Khatri, chief customs officer at bordering Tatopani Customs, told Xinhua on Friday.
A Chinese company on Wednesday handed over 2000 test kits to the Nepali embassy in Beijing which is expected to arrive at the border point on Saturday, according to the customs office.
According to Khatri, the customs office was also prepared to give clearance to the Nepal-bound goods which have stuck on the Chinese side of the border after the border was closed. He said that about 35 containers of goods containing mainly apples, onions and garlic have stuck on the Chinese side of the border.
Another Customs Office at Rasuwagadhi is also preparing to welcome the goods after the border point was formally reopened. "Our priority is to get food and medical items from China amid COVID 19 pandemic," Punya Bikram Khadka, chief customs office at Rasuwagadhi customs office, told Xinhua on Friday.
Nepal imported goods worth 31.11 billion Nepali Rupees (258 million U.S. dollars) through these two major border points during the first seven months of the current fiscal 2019-20 that began in mid-July 2019, according to Nepal's central bank data.
Likewise, the Himalayan country exported goods worth 718 million Nepali Rupees (5.9 million U.S. dollar) through these two border points during the same period.
