KATHMANDU: Commerce and supplies minister Rajendra Mahato today said that industrial productivity in developing countries was still very low. He recounted his experience-sharing at a workshop on ‘Challenges of building industrial competitiveness’ held in Austria on December 3-4.

The workshop saw the participation of ministers from developing countries on the important issue of the impact of global economic crisis on industrial production in developing countries. Mahato said due to low industrial productivity developing countries have not been able to get profit from international trade and globalization. “We have obtained WTO membership but have not been able to meet the target due to the lack of competititveness and our inability to rise to required productivity levels,” said Mahato. He added that the investment sector, technological developments and structural changes should be boosted so as to increase industrial production.

Organizations like UNIDO can play a vital role in priortizing countries on the basis of structural point of view in order to provide assistance, said Mahato. He urged developing countries for more extensive sharing of experiences and ideas in order to develop themselves in the long run.