Nepali businessmen are trying to develop an international market in Himalayan flowers and plants, but are finding that it is easier said than done.
The annual trade in cut flowers worldwide, including orchids and foliage, is estimated at over three billion dollars. Of late, entrepreneurs have been working to utilise the advantages of Nepal's midhill. climate and cheap labour to penetrate the world market, mostly in Europe and Japan, with flowers and pl ants which have their origins in the 'exotic' Himalaya.
"There is great potential for business if we can exploit our diverse climatic conditions and especially if we can develop the orchid industry," says Bijaya Bajracharya, who with a Japanese partner has invested heavily in Orchid Land, an enterprise which has started developing orchid hybrids for export.
Indeed, as Bajracharya says, there is a great deal of interest and curiosity about Himalayan plants and flowers in Western countries, but while producers based in Kalimpong and Sikkim have long dabbled in the trade, Nepali entrepreneurs are only now making their first furrows. However, they are stymied by a host of factors which range from lack of market access to absence of technology.