KATHMANDU, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Nepal will hold a five-day-long economic and trade fair in Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, next week, a Nepali government official said here Friday.

    "The fair entitled 'Nepal-China-Tibet Economic and Trade Fair 2005' will be held to promote the existing trade relationship between Nepal and China," Punya Neupane, joint secretary at the Industry, Commerce and Supply Ministry of Nepal, told Xinhua.

    The senior government officials from Nepal and Tibet are scheduled to jointly inaugurate the fair, which will be held from Sept. 15 to Sept. 19, Neupane said.

    "We hope the fair will be a milestone to increase the export of Nepali products to Tibet and strengthen the friendship between Nepal and Tibet from the economic level," Neupane said.

    There will be 40 stalls, including 38 of handicrafts, agricultural, industrial, construction materials and two stalls of service sectors, in the fair. "A total of 56 different Nepali enterprises will exhibit their products and introduce their services in the fair," Neupane said.

    A total of 150 delegates, including five government officials from Nepal, are expected to attend the fair.

    Nepal and China have been organizing this kind of trade fair alternately every year. This is the fourth time that Nepal has organized such kind of fair in Tibet, while Tibet has also organized three of such kind of fairs in Kathmandu. Enditem