KATHMANDU: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) organised the 'Make in Nepal: Swadeshi Summit 2023' in Kathmandu today. The summit was held to promote domestic industries which will help in the industrialisation process and subsequently also aid in import substitution.
The summit was inaugurated by Chief Guest Ramesh Rijal, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies.
Addressing the inaugural session of the summit, Minister Rijal, insisted on industrial infrastructure development and maximum utilisation of natural resources to promote domestic production for advancing towards a self-sufficient economy.
He was confident that the Summit would prove significant in terms of promoting Nepali goods and services. "The government is committed to carrying out policy-level and practical reforms and providing necessary coordination to promote domestic production," he said.
According to him, the government is committed to building an atmosphere for investment promotion, industrial infrastructure development and optimum utilisation of available natural resources. He highlighted the need for coordination between the public and private sector to achieve a self-sufficient economy. "The sustainable development of economy is not feasible without industrial development," said the Industry Minister.
[gallery columns="2" link="file" size="full" ids="36543,36533,36532,36538,36539,36547,36544,36545"]
The event started with Vishnu Kumar Agarwal, President of CNI, delivering the welcome remarks. During his remarks, Agarwal mentioned the challenges being faced by the local industries in the country. He added that the Swadeshi movement has been initiated by CNI to make people aware of the products being manufactured by domestic industries. Agarwal also shared that with the right policies in place, the country's industries will be able to further grow and help in import substitution.
He said this campaign was launched with the objective of increasing the use of domestic products and goods and taking them to the international market making them competitive. He opined that Nepal could establish a competitive market through maximum use of natural resources. "We should be able to use the commercial potential of water resources, forest resources, gravels, stones and herbs in a balanced and maximum way to achieve prosperity," Agarwal added.
The CNI President mentioned that the government should attract investment and encourage industrialisation by building industrial parks in a public-private partnership model. He further said that six industrial areas announced by the government years ago that have not been developed yet could be developed and run with the participation of private sector.
Stating that around 110 Nepali companies have been affiliated with 'Make in Nepal: Swadeshi' campaign in the last one and half years, the CNI President Agarwal claimed that productions of these companies are competitive in both quality and price-wise. "Hydropower, information technology, medicine, medical service, production, handicraft goods, construction, finance and business service, tourism, hotel and commercial farming are our competitive products. The government should bring a special policy with a 10-year plan to encourage investment in these sectors", he suggested.
[gallery columns="2" link="file" size="full" ids="36542,36541"]
A special address was made by Baqar Naqvi, Representative of Amazon India and Founder and CEO of Upriver Ecommerce (India). He spoke on 'Access to Nepalese products to the global market'. He mentioned that unlike in the past, it is easier now to market and sell products due to the rapid development of e-commerce platforms across the world. He added India is one very good example of the proliferation of digital market platforms with hundreds of such platforms serving thousands of cities and towns. He informed that in India within 10 minutes Amazon and Flipkart conduct one lakh digital transactions.
[gallery link="file" size="full" columns="2" ids="36540,36531"]
Meanwhile, Dr Swarnim Wagle, Member of the House of Representatives and Former Member of National Planning Commission (NPC), was the keynote speaker of the summit. During his address, he spoke on the need to break the traditional mindset and look at novel ways to usher in industrialisation in Nepal. He also spoke on how Nepal had fallen behind in economic terms as compared to some other countries that were in the same economic position a decade back. Wagle also said it was time to stop making excuses and start working on the core areas of the economy for the country to progress.
Wagle echoed the need of restructuring nation's economy. "Nepal requires to protect and promote some goods and services as per its interest," he said, underlining the need for protectionism for some specific goods and services. "In one phase of time, we opted for the free market. But now the matters of national security and interests are also the concerns of the market and this need should be addressed through policy," he said.
Moreover, lawmaker Wagle, who is also an economist stressed identifying the goods of competitive and comparative advantages and promoting and marketing them.
READ ALSO:
The CNI President mentioned that the government should attract investment and encourage industrialisation by building industrial parks in a public-private partnership model. He further said that six industrial areas announced by the government years ago that have not been developed yet could be developed and run with the participation of private sector.
Stating that around 110 Nepali companies have been affiliated with 'Make in Nepal: Swadeshi' campaign in the last one and half years, the CNI President Agarwal claimed that productions of these companies are competitive in both quality and price-wise. "Hydropower, information technology, medicine, medical service, production, handicraft goods, construction, finance and business service, tourism, hotel and commercial farming are our competitive products. The government should bring a special policy with a 10-year plan to encourage investment in these sectors", he suggested.
[gallery columns="2" link="file" size="full" ids="36542,36541"]
A special address was made by Baqar Naqvi, Representative of Amazon India and Founder and CEO of Upriver Ecommerce (India). He spoke on 'Access to Nepalese products to the global market'. He mentioned that unlike in the past, it is easier now to market and sell products due to the rapid development of e-commerce platforms across the world. He added India is one very good example of the proliferation of digital market platforms with hundreds of such platforms serving thousands of cities and towns. He informed that in India within 10 minutes Amazon and Flipkart conduct one lakh digital transactions.
[gallery link="file" size="full" columns="2" ids="36540,36531"]
Meanwhile, Dr Swarnim Wagle, Member of the House of Representatives and Former Member of National Planning Commission (NPC), was the keynote speaker of the summit. During his address, he spoke on the need to break the traditional mindset and look at novel ways to usher in industrialisation in Nepal. He also spoke on how Nepal had fallen behind in economic terms as compared to some other countries that were in the same economic position a decade back. Wagle also said it was time to stop making excuses and start working on the core areas of the economy for the country to progress.
Wagle echoed the need of restructuring nation's economy. "Nepal requires to protect and promote some goods and services as per its interest," he said, underlining the need for protectionism for some specific goods and services. "In one phase of time, we opted for the free market. But now the matters of national security and interests are also the concerns of the market and this need should be addressed through policy," he said.
Moreover, lawmaker Wagle, who is also an economist stressed identifying the goods of competitive and comparative advantages and promoting and marketing them.
READ ALSO:
Published Date: May 16, 2023, 12:00 am
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