KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 23
Confederation of Nepali Industries (CNI) has launched the 'Make in Nepal-Swadeshi' campaign.
The campaign was announced today with an aim to bring 1,000 industries into operation every year.
Under the campaign, the CNI aims to create 1.5 million industrial jobs every year and increase the annual exports worth Rs 4.3 billion over the next five years. The confederation has said that through its campaign, it will contribute 22 per cent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025 and 26 per cent by 2030.
CNI President Satish Kumar More said that the campaign has been launched with the aim of ramping up domestic production, raising the competitiveness of businesses and increasing the demand for Nepali goods and services. "This campaign, which will be conducted with the consent and cooperation of the government, will further help the local industries to become self-reliant by expanding the country's industrial base and increasing production," he said.
Senior Vice-President of CNI, Bishnu Kumar Agrawal, said that the confederation has conceived this campaign by giving special priority to import substitution and production of goods in the country.
Anuj Agrawal, vice-president of the confederation, said, "This is a Nepali campaign for Nepal.
We hope the Swadeshi (domestic) campaign will be sort of like a 'badge of honour' for producers," he said.
Meanwhile, Bishwa Poudel, chief economic adviser of the CNI, said that the campaign could be made successful by encouraging and supporting the business-friendly environment and the setting up of self-reliant industries. He said that this campaign can be made successful by modernising the services sector and promoting use of indigenous products.
"We can aim to climb to the 30th position in the Doing Business Index in five years," he claimed. "For this, the process of starting a business should be facilitated and digitisation should be encouraged."
The confederation has adopted 'Our goods, our self-esteem' as the tagline for the campaign.
A version of this article appears in the print on February 24, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
