Spoke at the 13th IMF Statistical Forum

I was honoured to participate as a panelist at the 13th IMF Statistical Forum, held on 19–20 November 2025 in Washington, D.C., on the theme “Measuring Cross-Border Economic and Financial Linkages in a Dynamic World.” Event page: https://www.imf.org/en/News/seminars/conferences/2025/11/19/13th-statistical-forum

During the Forum, I presented insights from my research on the Nepal–India merchandise trade corridor, focusing on how product-level bilateral asymmetries behave and why their reduction matters for policymakers, compilers, researchers, and Customs administrations. My intervention highlighted:

• Why reliable bilateral data is essential for sound policymaking and external sector assessments

• How bilateral trade asymmetries manifest between Nepal and India

• Product-level asymmetry patterns and their implications for compilation and analysis

• Factors influencing these asymmetries, and whether they follow systematic or random behaviour

• Actions required from Customs, National Statistics Offices, and Central Banks to strengthen data quality and improve reconciliation

Participating in this high-level global forum was deeply inspiring. It provided the chance to engage with statisticians, policymakers, and researchers from around the world, explore shared challenges, and build connections for future collaboration.

My sincere thanks to the International Monetary Fund(IMF) for the invitation and for hosting such an insightful and forward-looking event. I look forward to carrying these learnings back to Nepal and contributing further from Customs side.