Nepal Tea in 2015 International Tea Forum - National Tea and Coffee Development Board, Nepal

China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export for Foodstuffs, Native Products & Animal By-Products (CFNA) brought together all the 'Tea-men' of the world in one place once again via 2015 International Tea Forum held in Chibi, Hubei province of China from 6^th to 8^th November. Organized biennially, the slogan for this year's convention was given "The Belt and Road – Prosperity of the Tea Road". The slogan was given as a part of the development strategy and framework- "One Belt and Road", proposed by the Xi Jinpin- President of People's Republic of China, to resurrect the ancient Silk Road focusing on connectivity and cooperation among countries primarily in Eurasia.

With the opening ceremony on 6^th November, the forum kicked off in the presence of leaders of China’s central & local government and Chairpersons of the FAO- Intergovernmental Group (IGG) on Tea and International Tea Committee (ITC). Scholars, entrepreneurs, representatives of Tea Board and associations from thirty countries including the US, Canada, Russia, China, Britain, Korea, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and so on had participated in the convention. The historical story of Chibi City was presented and the ancient "Tea Road" was rediscovered during the forum. It also offered a platform for the global tea specialists and tea lovers to exchange the latest information and experience of the oriental tea culture.

First Session: November 6 (Friday) 14:00-17:15

Presided by Yu Lu, Vice-president of CFNA, the first session of the summit commenced with an opening speech by Norman Kelly, Chairman of ITC and Leonid Batyanovsky, Senior Counselor of Belarus Embassy in China. It was followed by presentations from Chinese and foreign participants.

Pang Wei, Director of the Agricultural Products Division, Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce of China, gave a presentation on "New competitive advantages for China's tea export under the 'Belt and Road' strategy.

William Gorman, Chairman of UK Tea & Infusions Association presented about Tea consumption and trade in Europe and explained how to promote the consumption of Chinese tea in UK and other EU countries. It was followed by a presentation by Anura Siriwardhana, President of Sri Lanka Tea Board on topic – "Ceylon Tea, Sri Lanka's gift to the World.

Introducing about Dubai Tea Trade Center (DTTC) and the tea market of the Middle East, Sanjeev Dutta, General Manager of DTTC, presented about the status and prospect of the Chinese tea consumption in the Middle East. He also talked about the strategy to promote the consumption of Chinese tea by the virtue of DTTC

After a Tea-Break, Mr. Rajid Hamid, Chairman of Morocco Association of Tea Producers, presented the situation and trend of tea consumption in Morocco. He also highlighted the prospect of Sino-Morocco tea trade and measures to strengthen tea trade cooperation with China for Morocco and North Africa.

Professor Liu Zhonghua discussed on the innovation of tea science and technology which has driven the development of Chinese tea industry. All the international guests were amazed by the micro-level research China is doing for the development of its tea industry.

Peter F. Goggi, Chairman of the Tea Association of the USA presented about the style and habit of tea drinking in North America. He also talked about the promotional strategy of Chinese tea in USA. We were surprised to learn that the USA has authorized the use of certain chemical pesticides on Tea which aren't permitted in rest of the world.

With the presentation on "Changes of Taiwan tea industry and the opportunity of cooperation between Mainland China and Taiwan" by Iou-Zen Chen, Professor of National Taiwan University, the first session of 2015 International Tea Forum came to an end. After each presentation, floor was opened to audiences for interaction with the speaker.

Second Session: November 7 (Saturday) 8:50-12:30

The second session of the forum was presided by Jinag Yongwen, Director of China Tea Science Society. Mr. Ramaz O. Chanturiya, Chairman of Russian Association of Tea & Coffee Producer, was invited as the first speaker of this session. He presented about the influence of China's 'Belt and Road' strategy on Sino-Russia tea trade and opportunities. He spoke about the attitudes Russian tea industry people have on revitalizing the ancient China-Russia tea road.

Professor Lin Zhi, Standing Director of China International Tea Culture Institute gave a passionate offhand speech on the Chinese tea culture and it's implication in the life of Chinese people. It was followed by the presentation of Louise Roberge, President of Canadian Association of Tea & Coffee Producers. She talked about the prospects of tea consumption in Canada and the ways to strengthen Sino-Canada cooperation in tea industry. Similarly, Barbara Dufrene, representing France, gave a long presentation on "Tea Trade and Market Structure in the EU".

Hasnan Onder, General Coordinator of Rize Commodity Exchange, representing Turkey presented himself very informally. Instead of directly jumping into his presentation, he stole the limelight of the forum by practically demonstrating how to brew Turkish tea. While the tea was left to be brewed, he started his presentation. By the time he completed his presentation with a promotional video of Turkish Tea, his tea was ready to be served. Serving the Turkish Tea to everyone in special Turkish Tea cup, he ended his 'show'.

After the presentation on "Exploring the secrets of Indian tea" by Rajiv Lochan, Director of Indian Lochan Tea Limited, the floor was provided to Mr. Seshkanta Gautam, Executive Director of National Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB) of Nepal.

Mr. Gautam gave a speech highlighting the Nepal-China friendship which dates back to 7^th century after the marriage of Princess Bhrikuti with the then Tibetan King Shrong Sang Gampo. He also credited Chinese emperor who gifted seeds of tea to the then Prime Minister of Nepal Junga Bahadur Rana, which is the first known history regarding the inception of tea plantation in Nepal. Speaking about the finest quality tea Nepal is producing, Mr. Gautam hoped that the "The Belt and Road" will also become tea road to prosperity for Nepal as well by linking Nepal Tea to the Chinese consumers. In the end Mr. Gautam, called Mr. Gaurab Luitel, Planning Officer of NTCDB to make a short presentation on "Nepal Tea: Quality from the Himalayas".

Mr. Luitel, as the youngest speaker of the forum, started his presentation giving a brief introduction to Nepal. Then narrating a short history of Tea in Nepal, he presented statistics of plantation, production and tea trade of Nepal. Through different slides he illustrated various tea facts of Nepal. In one of the slide he commented, "Although Nepal doesn't have Independence Day, on 15^th Baishak -- which coincides generally with 28^th of April-- Nepal observes National Tea Day." There was a moment of applause in the conference hall after this statement. In an informal conversation, we could hear that the participants felt the need of observing International Tea Day world-wide. Giving the seasonal quality of Nepalese orthodox tea, Mr. Luitel made a controversial statement, "Because of the lack of adequate infrastructures, Nepalese tea producers are forced to sell 90 percent of their products to Indian factories which is then resold in the international market as "Darjeeling Tea". This was a fact which global tea community needs to know.