Business community declares industrial crisis, seeks govt help

KATHMANDU, March 15: An emergency meeting of business communities on Sunday concluded that the country is reeling under unprecedented industrial crisis and decided to request the government to address the adverse business climate. [break]



The meeting was attended by office bearers of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), representatives from different chambers of commerce and industry and Confederation of Nepalese Industries.



The meeting took the decision amid eroding industrial climate in the country due to perennial load-shedding, labor unrest, frequent strikes and poor law and order which have crippled the already sick Nepali industrial sector for the past few years.



A five-hour long meeting decided to demand with the government waiver of demand charge (fixed minimum charge) on electricity bills of factories and implementation of government’s commitment to declare industrial estate a strike-free zone. The meeting also decided to express solidarity with the ongoing protest by Morang Industry Association and expand similar protests across the country.



The meeting also decided to demand with the government that entrepreneurs should be allowed to enforce “no work no pay” system if needed during closure of factories in abnormal circumstances.



Businessmen at the meeting said they should be given the right to close down factories if the government failed to fulfill their demands.



“We are meeting with the prime minister Tuesday to apprise him of our demands and we will ask the government to declare an industrial crisis in the country,” Kush Kumar Joshi, president of FNCCI told myrepublica.com after the meeting.



Business communities have long been demanding with the government to create conducive industrial environment to shore up investments and economic activities in the country.



Business communities have claimed that Nepali industrial sector has lost production worth over Rs 80 billion during the past one year.



After unprecedented load-shedding in the country caused by rapid decline in power generation, the government had declared power crisis on January 15 and rolled out an action plan to deal with the crisis.



However, the government’s move has appeared ineffective and the crisis has heightened instead.



prabhakar@myrepublica.com

Related story

Business ideas matter