Nepal’s Ticket to the International Market

Nepal’s Ticket to the International Market Disclaimer: The opinion is of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of NIPoRe at an appropriate place. – Anushruti Adhikari In Nepal, there is more than one way to pay for international goods and services: you could spend hours at a bank standing in a line, […]

Nepal’s Ticket to the International Market

Disclaimer: The opinion is of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of NIPoRe at an appropriate place.

– Anushruti Adhikari

In Nepal, there is more than one way to pay for international goods and services: you could spend hours at a bank standing in a line, you could annoy your distant friend or relative to make a dollar payment on your behalf or hunt down the ones who have fearfully acquired dollar cards so that international payment is slightly convenient. What is legal is not easy, and what is easy may not be documented or legal.

That is why the recent initiative by Nepal Rastra Bank which allows “A” and “B” class banks to issue prepaid dollar cards with a $500 ceiling, be it for the purpose of travel, education, entertainment, online shopping and the like, has already stirred much excitement among Nepali people

This new law will not only influence people to welcome the global e-commerce platform without any reservations, but also possibly change the purchasing behavior in 3 key ways.

Firstly, due to our minimum exposure to some virtual services like virtual telemedicine, online freelancers for hire, virtual fitness trainers, tele-nutritionists, virtual business and economic consultants etc. we don’t even consider them as possible items on our wish list. Our new ticket to these services expands our dimensions beyond just shopping on Amazon or paying a Netflix subscription fee. Global e-commerce has stretched far beyond the common industry giants and their general online market, and with enough dollars, subscription or service of any kind is now imaginable.

In addition, any person who owns a dollar card can now single-handedly make international transactions in a formal, transparent, and legal way. Real international market transactions will now be directly contributing to the formal economy while people’s real market behavior according to their location can be calculated and observed. If the $500 limit is too restrictive for some of the consumers, their needs will soon be clear, thanks to real-time accurate purchasing data.

Finally, online market accessibility may be able to finally discourage us from opting for piracy. Nepali people have had years of market gap where international intangible goods from movies and e-books all the way to high end softwares were always advertised but were never available for legal purchase, which led most of us to opt for piracy. But now thanks to the dollar card, instead of hunting for your favorite series on torrent, you can choose to take up a subscription package on Amazon Prime. You will opt to buy books on Kindle. You’d rather get an authentic Adobe Photoshop Software than ask a friend for a pirated setup.
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