SAWTEE’s Chairman Dr. Ratnakar Adhikari is featured as one of Business 360’s 100 People to Watch in 2025 for his contributions to regional integration and global commerce.

Dr. Paras Kharel, Executive Director, SAWTEE, spoke as a panelist in a discussion on "Driving economic growth through innovation and entrepreneurship", organized by Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM) Policy Lab, Lalitpur on 29 March 2025. 

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Dr. Paras Kharel, Executive Director, SAWTEE, presented on Nepal’s exports of agriculture products and spoke as a panelist in a session on "Export Promotion – Strategies for Nepali Agribusinesses" at the Agro-Investment Summit – Series II, organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and the Commercial Agriculture for Smallholder and Agribusiness (CASA) programme in Kathmandu on 25 March 2025. 

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At the invitation of the World Bank, Dr. Paras Kharel, Executive Director, SAWTEE, spoke as a panelist in a session on "Exporting Nepal: Harnessing Digital and Merchandise Exports", held as part of the launch of the Nepal Country Economic Memorandum: "Unlocking Nepal’s Growth Potential" on 24 March 2025 in Kathmandu.

Dr. Paras Kharel, Executive Director, SAWTEE, attended and provided inputs in a high-level dialogue presided over by the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Government of Nepal, on 21 March 2025 in Kathmandu. Discussions were held on the new commerce policy, a strategic plan concerning the commerce sector in the context of Nepal’s graduation from least developed country status, and the government’s action plan on trade deficit minimization.

SAWTEE hosted a session on "New World Disorder: Trading Realities in an Uncertain and Mercurial Period" at Project Sambaad Bhag Dui on 12 March 2025 in Kathmandu. The session was moderated by SAWTEE’s Programme Coordinator, Ms. Dikshya Singh. The panellists included Amb. Madhu Raman Acharya, Former Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepal; Mr. Shiv Raj Bhatt, Trade Expert; and Mr. Kshitiz Dahal, Senior Research Officer, SAWTEE.

Dr. Paras Kharel, Executive Director, SAWTEE, spoke as a panellist in a dialogue titled “BIMSTEC Policy Dialogue on Regional Cooperation and Development: Curtain Raiser to the Sixth BIMSTEC Summit”, organized by BIMSTEC Secretariat and South Asian Network on Economic Modelling (SANEM), Dhaka on 12 March 2025. The participants of the dialogue held in hybrid mode included experts and diplomats from the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) member states.

Dr. Paras Kharel, Executive Director, presented on “Diversification of Nepal’s large cardamom exports” in a meeting held at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS), Government of Nepal, Singha Durbar on 4 March 2025, as part of an initiative taken by Federation of Large Cardamom Entrepreneurs Nepal (FLCEN) with support from Sahaj/NAMDP II. Present on the occasion were the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Mr. Damodar Bhandari; other MoICS officials; office-bearers and members of FLCEN (cardamom producers and exporters); and representatives of NAMDP.

SAWTEE has completed a study on Nepal-Australia economic relations. The study is aimed at those interested to know about economic ties between Australia and Nepal; the economic significance of the ties for the two countries; and the prospects and challenges in advancing the relationship. It dissects the Nepal-Australia economic relationship, covering goods, services, migration and remittances, and investment. It describes the trends and patterns in these areas, and identifies broad potential and opportunities as well as challenges and constraints. While the bulk of it is based on secondary data, it also presents the views of the Nepali private sector.

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South Asia Watch on Trade Economics and Environment (SAWTEE) organized a validation workshop titled “Tapping Nepal’s Export Potential” on 28 January 2025, as part of its ongoing efforts to examine and enhance Nepal’s export potential. The workshop focused on validating the preliminary findings of SAWTEE’s study on the export sector, which explores the constraints to exporting, enabling factors, and growth opportunities for goods and services exports, particularly in the IT and tourism sectors. The analysis of the goods sector is based on a firm-level survey.

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