Govt gives priority to eco-friendly technology transfer

Transfer of environmentally sound technology and establishment of regional and international cooperation in this field is a priority for the National Planning Commission, ministry of industry, commerce and supplies, ministry of population and environment, ministry of finance, ministry of forest and soil conservation, ministry of agriculture and cooperatives, ministry of science and technology and other line ministries.In order to facilitate technology transfer, a separate Act on Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer is in place since early 90’s. The government published a national science and technology policy in 1998. The Environment Protection Act 1996 has special provisions of promoting eco-friendly technologies with additional incentives. Quite a number of fiscal incentives and measures are introduced in the fiscal act, which support the inflow of environmentally sound technologies. Customs and taxes are waived for pollution free technologies.In order to discourage the inflow of obsolete technologies, the import of second hand machineries need prior approval of ministry of population and environment. Renewable energy technologies enjoy fiscal incentives in terms of minimum customs and VAT exemption. The technology and know-how transfer is among the prioritised area for foreign cooperation. Government has initiated the works of developing technology standards with the introduction of mass emission standards for vehicles. Government-private sector partnership is being established in promoting waste minimisation techniques and processes.The ministry of science and technology was established in 1996 with the aim of conducting various programmes in the field of science and technology in an organised way and linking them with the national development process.The government has established a cleaner production fund in order to facilitate industries to replace the less efficient technologies with eco-friendly ones. The establishment of information centre in MOPE is ongoing with one of the objective of providing information on environment-friendly technologies. Biotechnology studies and research have been a priority concern and therefore technical support needs to be extended to agro-industries. Research will concentrate on the main problem areas, and special attention will be given to adaptive research for the improvement of cereal crops, horticulture, livestock as well as rural industries.