Job creation within Nepal is priority, claims PM

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said the government has prioritised job creation within the nation in order to end the problem of unemployment.

Inaugurating the 23rd National Convention of the Federation of Nepal Cottage and Small Industries (FNCSI) and the 20th women entrepreneurs' conference here today, PM Oli asserted that the government's policies and programmes as well as the budget were centred on creating employment opportunities within the country itself.

He said the government through its policies and programmes and the budget has encouraged the youth to start up enterprises and business based on small and cottage industries, tourism and agriculture.

"I urge the youth aspiring to go abroad in search of employment to find work within the country and become self-employed rather than opting to go abroad, only bemoaning lack of employment at home," he said.

Saying the country was self-sufficient in clothes and food grains until some years back, the Prime Minister said the level of dependency, however, started increasing then.

He added that this level of dependency on other nations could be ended only with the promotion and development of small and cottage industries.

He believed that small and cottage industries sector could be the means for creating employment and making the country self-reliant.

Small and cottage industry entrepreneurs from across the country are taking part in the two-day conference which would also elect a new leadership of the Federation for the coming three years.

FNCSI President Suresh Pradhan meanwhile said that the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) did not pay attention to the reconstruction of the small and cottage industries damaged by the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake.