From correspondents in West Bengal, India, 10:00 PM IST

Despite tremendous changes in the political scenario, Nepal remains an 'investment-friendly' country, and expects the bilateral trade with India to go up significantly, said the Himalayan nation's ambassador in India here Thursday.

'A tremendous change has taken place in the political scenario of Nepal. But as far as the economic policy is concerned, I can clearly say Nepal is a very investment friendly country. I think there are certain economic issues with India that we need to address immediately,' ambassador Durgesh Man Singh told reporters at an interactive seminar organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

He said the total trade of Nepal in 2006-07 was Rs.252 billion ($6 billion) of which 63.2 percent was with India.

'In the last financial year, the total volume of Indo-Nepal trade was around Rs.159 billion. But, I seriously think there are several economic issues like hydro-power, herbal production, medical service and education which need to be explored in the years to come.

'I hope this trade volume will further increase in future also,' Singh said.

He said there was also much scope for trade between West Bengal and Nepal.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)