The Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NICCI) was established in 1993 with a vision to facilitate discussion and interaction between the two countries. NICCI aims to promote joint ventures investment (JVI) and economic ties between the two countries. It is a forum to discuss and help resolve problems faced by member organizations and represent them to appropriate authorities.
Nepal and India have deep cultural, social and religious ties and has a unique and resilient connection. NICCI’s also aims to promote bi-lateral tourism between the two countries. NICCI has helped identify key areas which need to be addressed in order to enhance bi-lateral tourism from: overland travel, air-travel, joint promotion and development of connecting religious circuits and other policy gaps. This has been done by NICCI through facilitating a Joint Working Group in 2018 (JWG) between Nepal and India and the necessary public-private stakeholders.
One key area that has been identified is the development and promotion of a knowledge products on Spiritual/religious circuits of both the countries. NICCI is hoping to bring together and promote 5 of the major religious circuits between Nepal and India: (1) Buddhist Circuit (2) Mahabharata Circuit (3) Ramayan Circuit (4) Shiva Shakti Circuit and (5) Sikh Circuit. In times of uncertainty and difficulties, connecting to one another, one’s beliefs and one’s faith helps keep the spirit up. Religious tourism and pilgrimages are an imperative aspect of tourism and highlighting the link between Indo-Nepal is essential to enhancing relations. Developing a website and coffee table book giving prominence to the circuits would be a crucial way to do this.
The objectives of the knowledge product are information collection and dissemination through:
· Highlighting and promoting India and Nepal’s religious ties and how porous and interlinked our cultures are.
· To have a visual representation of the religious circuit routes and the interlink with India
With the support from members of NICCI, Embassy of India, Kathmandu, Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi, Nepal Tourism Board, Experts and photographers from both the countries and well-wishers now it has been able to come up as an integrated information on Nepal-India Cross-border tourism religious circuits which we hope that would definitely help enhance the tourism of both the countries through pilgrimage tourism.
We really very appreciate the support and efforts made by all in this, Thank you.
VISION:
The relations between Nepal and India is an exemplary relation based on similar culture, tradition and lifestyle bounded by the spiritual as well as religion which is unmatched to relations with any other countries. With this background NICCI being a Bi-national Chamber of Commerce aims to promote bilateral Tourism through this sentiment that we have in our blood by born itself which we hope will even foster the relations between our two nations in next level.
MISSION:
Since Nepal and India have deep rooted relations since time immemorial, connected by heart to heart with people to people and also connected with geography, Culture, Tradition and Religion since time immemorial NICCI sees the huge opportunities in the area of tourism promotion and wish to bring huge number of Pilgrimage for the promotion of tourism as well as common sentiments.
