China’s reluctance to fully open the Tatopani checkpoint is adversely affecting Nepali businesspersons — some committed suicides and many have left their businesses.
Nepal’s trade through the Tatopani checkpoint at Nepal-China border has been affected since the outbreak of Covid 19 in China in December 2019, according to Nepali media reports.
The border point from which Nepal collects revenue of around Rs 5 billion annually from the import and export of goods worth Rs 25 billion is deserted these days.
Just after the Chinese leader, Li Zhanshu visited Nepal, the checkpoint was opened on September 15 but the border has not been resumed completely. The movement of goods and services through this checkpoint is not seen rapidly. The trade is very less than the expectation made.
Many businesspersons in Nepal are worried as China is not interested in opening the border. According to former president of Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Rajendra Kumar Shrestha, the number of businesspersons doing business through the Tatopani has decreased by 70%.
Due to this, many businesspersons have quit their jobs. Nepalis are facing deep economic woes and the people’s lives at the border is equally painful. Many people who had been making a living across the border for years have fled abroad for employment.
Likewise, many businesspersons committed suicide under stress as financial conditions worsened.
Sudarshan Ghimire, owner of Swet Baraha Enterprises, who created the image of a good businessman of New Road chose the path of suicide. He committed suicide on September 6, 2022.
Similarly, Hare Ram Paudel, a young entrepreneur from Sindhupalchok involved in the import and supply of Chinese goods in the Nepali market committed suicide on October 13, 2020, due to frustration when his goods got stuck at the Nepal-China border for months.
The entrepreneurs were in a double trap, their goods were lying at the border for many months and they also had a huge amount of loans. On one hand, they had been going through financial crises, and on the other hand, banks and financial institutions (BFIs) were demanding the instalment or the dues cleared on a regular basis.
The undeclared blockade by China left 1,400 cargo containers that have been operating for 20 years, 2,800 drivers, and 5,000 labour families unemployed.
