CNI announces ‘Make in Nepal-Swadeshi’ campaign

Confederation of Nepali Industries (CNI) launched the ‘Make in Nepal-Swadeshi’ campaign on February 23 with an aim to bring 1,000 industries into operation every year.Under the campaign, the CNI aims to create 1.5 million industrial jobs every year and increase annual exports to Rs 4.3 billion over the next five years. The Confederation has said that through its campaign, it will contribute 22% to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025 and 26% by 2030. CNI President Satish Kumar More said that the campaign has been launched with the aim of ramping up domestic production, raising the competitiveness of businesses and increasing the demand for Nepali goods and services. “This campaign, which will be conducted with the consent and cooperation of the government, will further help local industries to become self-reliant by expanding the country’s industrial base and increasing production,” he said. Senior Vice-President of CNI, Vishnu Kumar Agrawal, said that the Confederation has conceived this campaign by giving special priority to import substitution and production of goods in the country. Anuj Agrawal, Vice-president of CNI, said that this is a Nepali campaign for Nepal and hoped the Swadeshi campaign will be a ‘badge of honour’ for producers. Meanwhile, Bishwa Poudel, Chief Economic Adviser of CNI, said that the campaign can be made successful by modernising the services sector and promoting use of indigenous products. “We can aim to climb to the 30thposition in the Doing Business Index in five years,” he claimed. “For this, the process of starting a business should be facilitated and digitisation should be encouraged.” The confederation has adopted ‘Our goods, our self-esteem’ as its tagline.