NCC pulls out of FNCCI membership

  • The two had been at odds after NCC decided to transform itself into a federation and expand its network across the country

Kathmandu, August 7

The differences bubbling under the surface among the umbrella organisations of the private sector have been exposed with Nepal Chamber of Commerce — the umbrella body of Nepali traders — formally withdrawing its membership from the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

In a major setback to the FNCCI, which has been facing criticism from its members for its failure to promote the private sector’s agenda properly, the Rajesh Kazi Shrestha-led NCC sent a membership withdrawal notice to FNCCI yesterday, ending the five-decade relationship between the two organisations.

Set up in 1952, the NCC is the founding associate member of FNCCI, which was established in 1965.

The two organisations representing the private sector had been at odds after NCC decided to transform itself into a federation and expand its network across the country under the federal structure.

The annual general meeting of NCC in January had decided to transform the organisation into a federation, raising the eyebrows of top guns in the FNCCI. Subsequently, FNCCI had sought clarification from NCC and asked why the federation should not scrap its membership.

“Alienating itself from FNCCI at a crucial juncture in the country’s development is certainly not good. However, we had anticipated NCC’s withdrawal as it had already initiated groundwork for consolidating its own network of traders across the country,” said one of the executive committee members of FNCCI seeking anonymity.

Meanwhile, NCC President Shrestha defended the necessity to withdraw its membership from FNCCI, as the chamber had developed its own network with members from diverse business sectors in recent years. “NCC has a strong network of traders and industrialists from across the country and we have already announced our plans to transform NCC into a federation. There is no point working under FNCCI,” he stated.

NCC quitting FNCCI membership also means that the federation will form a separate Kathmandu chamber, which will represent the traders and industries based in the capital.

FNCCI does not have its district chamber of commerce and industry in Kathmandu as NCC had been performing the role till date.

“We will soon initiate the process of forming Kathmandu chamber,” the FNCCI official told THT.

However, NCC’s Shrestha clarified that quitting the FNCCI membership did not necessarily mean division in the country’s private sector.

“Though NCC is an independent body representing the country’s traders, we will stand together with other private sector bodies for strengthening the private sector and lobbying with the government,” he added.