Over 16,000 Small Industries Registered Within 6 Months

November 27: A total of 16,341micro, cottage and small industries have been registered in Nepal in the first three months of the current fiscal year. Those industries have been registered at the micro, cottage and small industries offices across the country and are expected to provide employment to 50,211 people.

The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies revealed this data during a programme organized on the occasion of the 8th Industry Day in Kathmandu on Friday.

Similarly, 86 industries have been registered with the Department of Industries during this period and are expected to provide employment to 5,935 people. On the occasion, Chief Secretary of the Government of Nepal, Shankar Das Bairagi, and the Secretary at the Ministry of Industries, Commerce and Supplies Toya Narayan Gyawali also released the industrial bulletin.

According to the ministry, the government has launched the Small Enterprise Development Programme with the aim of creating employment opportunities at the local levels. Under the programme, 51,428 new small entrepreneurs were created in the last fiscal year. Similarly, Gyawali said that the government has been supporting the programme under the "Make in Nepal" campaign in collaboration with the private sector. He said that a MoU has been signed with the FNCCI to implement the arrangements in the budget.

Director General of the Department of Industry Ram Chandra Tiwari said that improvements in policy, legal, institutional, procedural and technological aspects have been done to facilitate the industrial sector.

He expressed that only by creating an industry-friendly environment, the traditional agricultural system can be transformed into entrepreneurship, and only through that, a sustainable and independent economy can be developed.

Similarly, Shekhar Golchha, the president of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stressed that the government should provide subsidies to industries in Nepal for value addition, job creation and export. Saying that the economy is in a lot of crisis now, he stated that both the government and the private sector should be involved in creating an environment for the industry to sort out the problems.

Vishnu Kumar Agarwal, president of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), suggested that the government should bring a clear industrial policy to open new industries and prevent the displacement of old ones. He said that it is very difficult to start an industry at present due to the exorbitant prices of land. According to him, the CNI has launched various campaigns and plans by giving priority to domestic production and exports. He said that it is also necessary for the government to support and cooperate in these activities of the private sector. He also stressed on the need to do homework on cost reduction issues as the production cost of industries is high.