16th periodic plan should create business-friendly environment: NCC

Kathmandu, Aug. 17

Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) has suggested the National Planning Commission (NPC) to formulate the upcoming 16^th periodic plan of the country in a way that creates an environment for investment and doing business.

In an interaction on 'the upcoming five-year plan and Nepal's graduation to the developing country status' with the Vice-Chairman of the NPC, Dr. Min Bahadur Shrestha, at its secretariat in the capital on Thursday, the businesspersons urged the planning body to create an environment for maximum utilisation and export of natural and other resources available in the country.

Drawing the attention of the NPC on making the sixteenth plan objective and result-oriented, the NCC said that the periodic plan should have clear provisions that would facilitate the business and industries.  

President of the NCC, Rajendra Malla, said that since Nepal is set to upgrade to a 'developing country' status from the Least Developed Country (LDC) in 2026, the country should devise development as well as business and trade strategy considering this event so that investors and producers could maintain their productivity and competitiveness in the post-graduation scenario.

The graduation could result in the loss of some favourable treatment given to Nepali products by some developed countries like the United States, and the European Union.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS) is putting its efforts to ensure that Nepal wouldn't lose the favoured treatment in the EU and USA and in dialogue with the authorities there. Nepal wants to continue with the USA's Nepal-specific trade preference programme implemented in the aftermath of the devastating 2015 Gorkha earthquake. This provision will expire in 2025, but Nepal is lobbying to keep it for longer than that.

Likewise, the MoICS is in dialogue with the EU authorities to meet the criteria of the GSP Plus so that Nepal wouldn't lose the favoured treatment after it graduates to a 'developing nation'.

Malla said that some of the goals mentioned in the fifteenth plan have not been fulfilled due to the lack of coordination between the NPC and Ministry of Finance.

"The 15^th plan has set the growth projections of 10.3 per cent for the last year of the current periodic plan, Fiscal Year 2023/24, but the government, through the budget of the current year, has set the growth target of six per cent," he said.

Many ambitious projects such as construction of metro rail in major cities and industrial zones in 18 locations across the country were included in the 15^th plan, but could not be implemented.

According to Malla, the 16^th plan should cover the construction of strategic roads that connect the large markets in India and China while railways should also be given priority. Likewise, priority should be accorded to hydropower, agriculture, tourism, and information technology sectors.

The businesspersons have also suggested the NPC include the development and implementation of the national payment gateway in the upcoming plan. The gateway is in talks for the past many years, but there has been no progress so far. They also urged to give priority to the utilisation and export of the natural resources like forest products, precious stones and herbs.

Addressing the programme, VC Dr. Shrestha said that the new plan will focus on economic prosperity including social justice and good governance.

"Work is being done to formulate a plan by objectively studying the infrastructure of agriculture, education, health, tourism, information technology and other sectors. The NPC is making strategic preparations regarding the situation that will arise after Nepal is upgraded from the LDC," he said.

Although the graduation will have some effect on the trade concessions being received from European countries, the NPC and government are making preparations for the same, he maintained.

Increasing the export of Nepali goods and services and attracting the foreign direct investment through the expansion of industrial sector will be the priority of the upcoming plan, said Dr. Shrestha. 

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 17 August 2023.