KATHMANDU, MARCH 17
The Federation of Nepal Cottage and Small Industry (FNCSI) is gearing up to lobby for the effective implementation of the directive on the use of domestic goods in public offices.
Speaking at a press conference held in Birgunj, newly elected Chairperson of FNCSI Umesh Prasad Singh said that as the government policy that encourages use of domestic products in public offices has been limited to paper, FNCSI should lobby for the effective implementation of the directive.
He claimed that the contribution of small, cottage and small scale industries to the economy would increase exponentially if the government implements the strategy by shifting the traditional agriculture-, remittance- and import-based economy towards industrialisation using the available local resources.
He further informed of a plan to initiate programmes for upgrading, rejuvenating and expanding small scale industries across the country and to assist and coordinate in running programmes to increase productivity by scaling the capacity of entrepreneurs.
He said that representation of the federation should be ensured in the local revenue advisory committee as provisioned in the Local Government Operation Act 2015.
He said that the new executive committee plans to take the initiative to run the programme by identifying the potential donors who want to collaborate in the promotion and development of small and cottage industries by further strengthening the cooperation with the government.
According to him, the federation plans to update the data on small scale industries and take the initiative to make the existing policies, acts and procedures of Nepal SME-friendly.
The FNCSI plans to help promote and develop the market for domestic products by organising International Industrial Trade Fair and Cottage Industry Festival, which had been postponed due to COVID, said Singh.
The FNCSI also plans to facilitate the entrepreneurs to acquire soft loans and conduct financial literacy programmes in all the seven provinces.
Stating the entrepreneurs are working to make the country economically prosperous and self-reliant through industrialisation, he said, "There is no doubt that small, home-based and small entrepreneurs are the game changers in the context of Nepal. Entrepreneurs are the transformative forces of a progressive economy. It is the responsibility of the entrepreneurs to ensure the supply of marketable goods or services by identifying their potential demand.
According to him, small, home-based and small scale industries have been playing an important role in the economic development of Nepal. "In fact, if we look at the industrial history of Nepal, 95 per cent of the industries operating in Nepal constitute of small, cottage and small scale industries. And these industries are contributing over 60 per cent to country's exports."
According to the latest statistics of the Department of Industry, a total of 602,921 small, cottage and small scale industries have been registered in the country till the current fiscal year, 2021-22. Of them, 457,643 industries are in operation. As per the data, the total capital investment proposed in the industries is Rs 801.89 billion whereas the proposed employment is 3.289 million people.
Meanwhile, the outgoing president of the federation Shyam Prasad Giri, former president Suresh Pradhan, Senior Vice-President Surya Kandel, Vice-President Harihar Thapa, Chairperson of the Women Entrepreneurs Committee Roshni Upadhyay and others discussed about future plans of the federation at the event.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 18, 2022, of The Himalayan Times
