Kathmandu: The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has submitted its suggestions to the government on topics to be included in its Policies and Programmes for the upcoming fiscal year 2025/26. FNCCI President Chandra Prasad Dhakal on Wednesday submitted the suggestions to the government through Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Damodar Bhandari.
According to National News Agency Nepal, the FNCCI has urged the government to ensure the formulation and implementation of necessary regulations, effective execution, and implementation of policy reforms. It noted that some positive signs of policy reforms have been observed. The FNCCI has proposed making maximum use of technology in business processes and providing all business services online through a ‘business icon’ in the Citizen App.
The FNCCI has also highlighted the need to make the government service system more effective under the ‘smart’ service concept and to adopt a separate policy for promoting foreign investment. It pointed out that foreign investment in Nepal is currently only 0.2 percent of GDP and recommended launching a special investment campaign to increase it. The FNCCI suggested merging and restructuring the Office of the Investment Board and the Department of Industries and fully implementing the ‘one stop’ service center.
Investors should not need to visit multiple offices after submitting required documents, the Federation argued, while also emphasizing the necessity of improving the banking system. Despite having Rs 600 billion available for investment, the pace of investment remains slow. Although interest rates have decreased by three percent over the last three months, investment disbursement has not been effective. The FNCCI proposed reviewing the current capital loan guidelines introduced by the Nepal Rastra Bank two years ago and postponing this policy for at least two years.
The FNCCI further suggested introducing a policy to promote Nepali agricultural products and the export of water to the Gulf countries. It proposed setting up cold storage, X-ray machines, and warehouse facilities at the airport to promote exports of Nepali products to the Gulf countries, leveraging the 12 daily flights from Nepal to the Middle East.
The Federation recommended gradually reducing the tax levied by five percent over five years to promote the manufacturing industries. It also emphasized reducing the income tax rate and increasing the tax exemption limit.