KATHMANDU: Senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Chandra Prasad Dhakal, has said that it was necessary to promote domestic industries to replace imports and increase foreign exchange reserves.
Addressing the 4th General Convention and General Assembly of the Federation of Nepal Printer’s Association (FNPA) held in the capital on Friday as the chief guest, Senior Vice President Dhakal said that if the government takes initiative to solve the problems faced by the indigenous industries, it can replace imports and stop large outflows of money.
“Due to the lack of new and quality technology, a large amount of money has gone out of the country only for the import of goods related to the printing business”, he said.
Stating that he will take initiative on behalf of the federation to solve the problem of the printing industry with a market of Rs 80 billion, he has requested to submit written suggestions to the FNCCI.
Dhakal, who is also the chairman of the IME Group, said that his group has also expanded its investment in the paper industry.
“At present, Nepal is not producing quality paper. In view of this shortfall, the IME Group has expanded its investment in the paper industry. We are confident that this will prove to be a cornerstone in quality paper production in Nepal,” he said.
Talking about the differences between the public and private printing industries, he said that the government should treat all industries and businesses equally.
“I have heard complaints of discrimination between the government-owned printing industry and the private sector-run printing industry. If so, it needs to be corrected immediately. The FNCCI expresses its solidarity with the demands of the people here and let us take joint initiative to bring a program to address this in the forthcoming budget,” he said.
