Biratnagar, November 28:

Speakers at a workshop here accused the government of not creating an environment for industries.

At the inaugural session of a two-day workshop organized by the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of Standards and Metrology, local investors said factories were shutting down one after another while foreign investors were threatening to pull their investment out of Nepal.

Industrialists warned that they would be forced to close all industries as the sector was being pushed into crisis by political interference while workers were politically motivated and the government had unilaterally fixed minimum wage of workers. They said industrialists were affected by extortion and lack of security as blasts were being carried out in factories and entrepreneurs were getting killed every other day. They also said double taxation was another reason for crisis in the industrial sector. Lack of quality and competitiveness of Nepali goods was also plaguing the sector at a time when these two attributes were essential to minimize the risks of global financial crisis. CA member Moti Dugar said that there was no mechanism to test the quality of imported food and other goods and claimed that consumers’ rights were being violated. Director of the department of Standard and Metrology Laxmi Prasad said the workshop was held to evolve a solution to worsening relations between industrialists and workers. Morang CDO Shashi Shekhar Shrestha said Nepali products must meet global standards. Speakers kers also accused the government of not being serious about the development of industrial sector.