Udaya Raj Paudel

Quest International College, Pokhara University

Lalitpur, Nepal

udayapaudel7@gmail.com

ORCID 0000-0002-5234-5081

Harmonization of socioeconomic policy and institutional set-up for efficient operation on Nepal-India open border small business

Niranjan Devkota

Quest International College, Pokhara University

Lalitpur, Nepal 

niranjandevkota@gmail.com

ORCID 0000-0001-9989-0397

Abstract. Open border extrapolates interlinking and ample opportunities among the countries but that requires a substantial amount of policy learning and readiness of the people for economic transformation. A long-term tradition of free movement of people across borders can be witnessed globally but developing, operating, sustaining and institutionalizing cross-border cooperation and harmonization remain to be great challenges. In such a context, this research delves into the issue of cross-border small business activities between Nepal-India open border regions at the level of socioeconomic policy harmonization and institutional set-up convenient for policy implications. The study shows that the issue of small businesses in Nepal-India open border is neither adequately addressed, nor harmonized and institutionalized. So, the priority of Nepal-India small business activities in the border regions should reside on the perception of people, harmony, trust, trade relation and international brotherhood for growth, and systematization.  Thus, from the spirit of free movements of people and commodities enshrined in the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship to the present; governance, harmonizing and institutionalizing processes in Nepal-India cross-border small business are complex endeavors.

Received: June, 2019

1st Revision: October, 2019

Accepted: February, 2020

DOI: 10.14254/2071-8330.2020/13-1/7

JEL Classification: F50, G41, G18, O53, Z13

Keywords: harmonization, Nepal-India open border, small business, socioeconomic policy, institutional set-up