- Professor Surya P. Subedi
The pandemic of Covid-19 has brought many challenges for states of all size and shape, whether economically or politically. The hardest hit is likely to be the least-developed countries like Nepal which already suffer from other handicaps. They lack a long-term strategy to use economic diplomacy successfully to develop the economy of the country. Economic diplomacy is about knowing how to exploit the unique selling points that the country has, maximise the benefits resulting from them and putting in place policies designed to achieve such objectives. The following are some of them:
- Benefiting from competition among foreign actors
We are often led to believe that Nepal is a resource poor country, but in reality, it is a country rich in water resources and other resources such medicinal Himalayan herbs and has a huge potential for the development of the tourism and other services sectors. Since the country is endowed with such resources and there is so much potential for the services sector, Nepal is well placed to attract foreign investment to harness its natural resources and develop its services sector since the country has achieved some degree of political stability. Continue reading
Gèneve 27 septembre– Des leaders de la société civile de pays en voie de développement ont appelé les pays riches à ouvrir leurs marchés et à offrir des opportunités commerciales équitables aux produits des pays pauvres et en voie de développement. Prenant la parole mardi, à l’occasion d’un programme interactif organisé par l’Observatoire des PMA (OPMA), un réseau des organisations de la société des 47 pays les moins avancés – Demba Moussa Dembele, directeur du Forum africain des alternatives, a dit que des politiques, comme ‘l’Amérique d’abord’, font plus de mal aux pays pauvres et en voie de développement. 
19 December 2016: Global poverty is increasingly concentrated among a group of 48 countries, which are falling further behind the rest of the world in terms of economic development, according to a United Nations report released on Tuesday by UNCTAD. 
25 Oct 2016 Ratnakar Adhikari, (WEF), This past summer, the World Bank officially upgraded Cambodia to a “lower‑middle‑income country”, a move that confirms the country’s upwards economic trajectory over the past 20 years. 
On Thursday, 29 September, at the WTO Public Forum, civil society speakers will argue for a change in WTO rules to achieve the SDGs. Speakers from the Third World Network, Southern and Eastern African Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI), Uganda, International Trade Union Confederation and LDC Watch will explain that in September 2015 governments agreed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but the SDGs cannot be achieved under existing WTO rules. 
The East African Community (EAC) has sought a three-month extension on whether to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), with the European Union, pushing back the final agreement to January 2017. 