KATHMANDU: In an effort to develop skilled human resources for increasing trade capacity with better preparation for Nepal’s graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) status, the European Union has extended support for grooming Tribhuvan University (TU) professors as experts in international market intelligence.
In this regard, the European Union (EU)-funded Trade and Investment Program (TIP) organized a five-day Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop in Kathmandu with technical support from the International Trade Centre (ITC) targeting professors of economics.
According to the ITC, the workshop which concluded on Friday was aimed at spreading the knowledge of market intelligence through the participating professors in their respective workplaces in the coming days. The workshop was conducted in the context of Nepal graduating from LDC, which requires skilled human resources to build the country’s international trade capacity.
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The goal of the workshop is to set up an active network of certified trainers on ITC tools who can afterwards train their students, apply knowledge in research activities and provide trade-related advisory support to the government authorities in Nepal, reads a statement issued by ITC.
During the workshop, ITC trainers performed individual assessments allowing each participant to instruct future trainees on the application of the ITC’s Trade Map and Market Access Map and evaluate the performance of the TOT participants based on their technical knowledge, navigation proficiency, and training skills, among others. The ITC had successfully conducted the introductory workshop on ITC’s Market Analysis Tools to selected participants representing TU’s Central Department of Economics (TU-CEDECON) in November 2021.
Participants said the opportunity to learn using modern tools will help them get greater access to international trade information. Resham Thapa, associate professor of the Central Department of Economics of Tribhuvan University, who successfully completed the ToT training, said that the workshop was a great platform to learn practical basis about Trade Map, Market Access Map, and Export Potential Map which are key tools to enhance market intelligence.
“This training is going to support developing TU as a resources centre for trade-related information and encourages participants to share knowledge of ITC market intelligence tools in various platforms,” said Thapa. The training was focused on data collection skills, and identifying potential glitches and problems while using the ITC tools.
In addition to providing market intelligence tools, trainers provided tips for better presentation skills which are necessary for successful trainers.
Junu Sinjali Magar, another participant, said the workshop was held at the right time to build sustainable capacities in trade and market intelligence, and trade-related policy research, as there is a dearth of such expertise among the academia in Nepal.
“I thank the EU and ITC for this much needed support provided to us through this training,” said Magar.
