Kathmandu, January 10

Minister for Industry Nabindra Raj Joshi has asked different industries based in all 75 districts of the country to submit their operation status to the government so that it can facilitate the industries if required.

“The government wants to know about the current status of industries operating in the country, including their operational challenges. This will help the government to take necessary decisions, introduce reform policies and launch necessary programmes to facilitate domestic industries,” Minister Joshi said while addressing an event organised by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) here today.

Besides updating the government on the status of their industries, Joshi also requested industrialists of different districts to identify investment potential in their respective districts and provide necessary suggestions to the government.

“We are hosting the International Investment Summit in March. If the private sector is able to provide suggestions on investment potential sectors in different parts of the country, we will be able to encourage foreigners to invest in those sectors during the international summit,” he added.

Meanwhile, Joshi also informed that the Ministry of Industry (MoI) is gearing up to host an investors’ summit among domestic investors before hosting Nepal Investment Summit.

Pashupati Murarka, president of FNCCI, said that though the government is talking about industrial growth, there still exists a number of policy hurdles which discourage investment in the industrial sector of Nepal.

“Among many other hurdles, the law restricts private sector from purchasing more than 11 bighas of land to set up an industry. This has restricted huge investment in Nepal’s industrial sector,” he said, adding that MoI should act as a line ministry of the private sector and take the initiative to reform such policies.